MIAMI — Whitman Family Development has submitted plans for a mixed-use project at its Bal Harbour Shops in Miami’s Bal Harbour village. Plans call for 600 apartment units, 40 percent of which are earmarked for workforce housing and 60 percent of which will be luxury housing. There will also be a 70-room, 20-story hotel and an additional 45,700 square feet of retail space.
Bal Harbour Shops comprises more than 100 shops, restaurants and entertainment options. The open-air, luxury retail center, which is home to brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. and Valentino, is currently undergoing a $550 million retail expansion that will add about 250,000 square feet, nearly doubling the center’s current retail space. The expansion will accommodate the addition of 35 new upscale stores and restaurants.
The new housing development is made possible by Florida’s Live Local Act, a bipartisan bill passed by the Florida legislature last year in response to the critical need for affordable and attainable housing statewide. The legislation enables developers to build at higher density and building heights, so long as they commit to including attainable housing units.
The law requires that local municipalities approve mixed-use residential projects in any area zoned commercial through an administrative review process, enabling developers to accelerate their timelines. In exchange, property owners must commit to designating at least 40 percent of all residential units as attainable or affordable housing for at least 30 years.
“South Florida’s economic future relies on creating more sustainable housing options,” says Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development. “By adding workforce and market-rate housing catering to service and hospitality workers, teachers, first responders and other workers who are the backbone and lifeblood of our community and who are currently priced out of the market, Bal Harbour Shops will diversify the area’s housing market so that people who work in this village can actually live here.”
Today, half of Miami-Dade’s 936,351 households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, according to the 2023 Housing Needs Assessment report by the University of Florida and Miami Homes for All. Within Bal Harbour, the average home is valued at $1.7 million and the median price for rental listings is about $7,000 per month, according to Realtor.com.
Whitman has filed plans for the mixed-use development with the Village of Bal Harbour. Once building permits are issued, the multi-phase project will begin with the development of an attainable housing tower on the property’s southwest corner, followed by luxury apartment units and the boutique hotel. The residential components will feature amenities such as swimming pool decks, resident lounges, modern fitness centers and outdoor recreational areas.
The new towers at Bal Harbour Shops will rise to approximately 275 feet, consistent with immediately adjacent buildings in the village, including the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort directly across the street. The project’s design prioritizes pedestrian access and includes new entry points that will connect the development to the surrounding neighborhood.
New tax revenue generated by the development will help the village enhance public safety and prioritize infrastructure improvements, alleviating a cost burden that would otherwise be placed on residents, according to the developer.
Whitman has been a mainstay in South Florida’s real estate landscape for the past 60 years. The firm opened the Bal Harbour Shops in 1965 and has continually invested in the property.
— Kristin Harlow