Tall & Urban News

Developer Blue Road won conditional approval to build a 20-story, 139-unit multifamily project in North Miami. Emblem Tower Apartments is planned for a site just west of I-95, along Northwest 7th Avenue, a major north-south artery that doubles as State Road 7.

The transit-driven development site is zoned C-1, or “commercial district,” but it’s in a municipal overlay district where dense residential projects are encouraged. The Planned Corridor Development Overlay District allows up to 125 dwelling units per acre, Wernick said. “It also comes with design criteria and a pretty robust sustainability checklist,” he said.

The North Miami City Council unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the market-rate Emblem Tower project, which is still subject to development review by city staff and site-plan approval by the city council. The conditional use permit gives Bay Harbor Islands-based Blue Road up to 18 months to obtain a building permit for Emblem Tower, and construction will take 24 months, Wernick said.

Market-rate rents at Emblem Tower probably will average about US$2,500 a month and the building’s studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments are likely to attract young professionals and retail store managers, among other types of tenants, said Jorge Savloff, who leads Blue Road, together with Marcelo Tenenbaum.

For more on this story, go to The Real Deal.