First military housing in decades about to rise in Miami-Dade

Written by Alexander Luzula on June 11, 2025

A new housing development planned for the United States Southern Command is set to begin rising this month, the first development of its kind in South Florida in over 30 years.

Located in Doral, the Southern Command will be building 139 new housing units on its land, the first new development of its kind since the closure of Homestead Air Force Base’s housing in 1992, when it was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, leaving South Florida without military housing since then.

The project is now named Cadence Communities at SOUTHCOM. A press representative from Centinel Public Partnerships, the company responsible for developing the site, confirmed development of the first phase is expected to begin in late June, consisting of 60 two-bedroom apartments made to house 120 unaccompanied soldiers. The first phase is to be ready to move in by January 2027.

The second phase, 48 townhouses, is expected to begin construction shortly after and be ready for occupancy in February 2027. Following that, a third phase of 24 duplexes and seven single-family homes is to be ready for occupancy by May 2027.

Currently, Centinel’s development team is installing the infrastructure needed to support Cadence Communities, including stormwater, sewage and underground electrical systems; grading the land; building curbs; and paving asphalt.

The planned community is expected to include amenities including a community center, dog park and playground.

Announced in January 2023, the development will encompass 51.7 acres and be built for $110 million.

This development comes after an agreement made between SOUTHCOM and Australian-based construction company Lendlease. In January, Lendlease sold its US military housing portfolio, as well as other American properties, to Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, which now handles its developments, including the SOUTHCOM development, under its new subsidiary, Centinel Public Partnerships.

This partnership came about as part of the Department of Defense’s Military Housing Privatization Initiative, in which SOUTHCOM would lease the land as part of a 50-year agreement. Centinel is to pay for the development costs in exchange for military personnel paying rent equivalent to their basic housing allowance. In 50 years, the land is to revert to Department of Defense ownership.

The Southern Command is one of the 11 unified combatant commands in the Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing US contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for 32 nations in South and Central America and the Caribbean and is also responsible for ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal and the canal area.