Helm Equities has received approval from the Miami Urban Development Review Board for its Live Local Act project in the Miami Design District, despite some board members voicing concerns about the building’s design.
The proposal by Helm Equities, a New York-based affiliate of JEMB Realty, involves constructing a 36-story tower with 278 residential units and an adjacent eight-story building that will include more than 101,000 square feet of office space and retail. The development is planned for a nearly two-acre site at 220 Northeast 43rd Street.
Of the 278 residential units, approximately 116 will be offered as workforce rentals. The remaining units will be market-rate condominiums. This arrangement meets the requirements of Florida’s Live Local Act, which mandates that at least 40 percent of units in such projects be reserved for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. Developers under this act can also build larger projects or receive significant tax incentives.
Board member Gia Zapattini expressed reservations about the design during Wednesday’s meeting. “There’s a lot going on in this project. There’s curves and arches. I understand you are trying to do something unique for the Design District and trying to do something cool,” she said to the architect. “It’s a very complicated little project.” She also noted that combining workforce rentals with high-end condos adds complexity and suggested simplifying the design due to potential cost and construction challenges. “This is a very tricky project to build,” she added.
Other board members had positive reactions to the design. Ignacio Permuy commented that there are “a lot of things going on … that are very, very good,” while Francisco Perez-Azua described it as “a bit eclectic” but ultimately concluded, “But I see the value in that and the interest of that. I think it’s a nice project.”
The board approved Helm’s project with recommendations for adjustments to parts of the façade for variation and changes to renderings so they better reflect floor plans.
The review board also approved Namdar Group’s plan for a 1,011-unit multifamily tower in Brickell amid concerns about traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Namdar Realty intends to build a 42-story tower at 250 and 296 Southwest Seventh Street under similar Live Local Act guidelines, with Behar Font & Partners as architects. Of its apartments, 405 will be set aside at workforce rents for households earning up to 120 percent of area median income.
Additionally, Crescent Heights’ second phase of its Forma apartment tower in Edgewater was approved with mostly positive feedback from committee members. Crescent Heights plans a new Arquitectonica-designed building: a 42-story structure with 360 multifamily units and an adjacent six-story commercial building featuring retail and office spaces at 200 Northeast 30th Street—immediately west of their recently completed Forma apartment tower.
The developer’s attorney described this new addition as designed to serve as a “sister project” to Forma.
