A development project touting 10,623 construction jobs and 2,513 permanent positions moved a step closer to reality this week in North Miami. But not everyone is sold on the financial package, and if the city balks, the developer could walk.
The City Council authorized negotiations to begin with South Florida developer Michael Swerdlow's Oleta Group on a residential and retail venture spread over 184 acres.
Called Biscayne Landing, the city-owned site was once a toxic-waste dump. In exchange for the development rights on the property, Swerdlow's group has offered to pay North Miami $19 million upfront and $1.4 million annually for a 99-year lease.
In addition, an Oleta prospectus forecasts that annual "participation rents" totaling $1,094,600 would be paid to the city by a planned condominium development and assisted living facility. Some $280,500 in annual rents would come from retailers.
Swerdlow estimated that the phased build-out of the project would add $1 billion to North Miami's property tax rolls.
But not all city officials are satisfied. Mayor Andre Pierre said Oleta will have to "cough up more dough" if Swerdlow expects to seal the deal.
Its an insult for him to ask the city to accept the proposal at this time," Pierre told the Miami Herald.
Swerdlow's group maintains it is taking a significant risk by offering to expend more than $10 million to complete the site's infrastructure, including interior circulation roads and preparing pad sites for a retail center and residential units.
The group anticipates construction to start on an 800,000- to 1-million-square-foot commercial center within the first four years of a 10-year building schedule.
Major potential retailers expressing interest in locating stores at the project include Kohls, Lowes, 24-Hour Fitness, Dicks Sporting Goods, Petsmart, West Marine, ToysRUs and BabiesRUs, according to a Swerdlow-commissioned study by Focus Real Estate Advisors.
Construction would also begin on the first phase of a "luxury" assisted living facility and the first 200 units of a 3,500-unit condominium development.
Sandwiched between the Biscayne Bay Environmental Preserve and U.S. 1, Biscayne Landing is surrounded by schools and commercial properties. The city calls it the largest tract of undeveloped land in northeastern Miami-Dade County.
"Two-hundred acres is a rare thing in Miami," Swerdlow told Sunshine State News last month.
He ought to know.
In 2006, Swerdlow sold out to his partners at a previous venture on the site. Those partners were subsequently hit by the slumping real-estate market and buried by some $200 million in losses. The only remnants of activity are two condo towers, which have been split off the property.
Fending off suggestions that he's engineered a sweetheart deal the second time around, Swerdlow says the former landfill remains "environmentally problematic." While the city has removed toxic materials and organic debris has decomposed, the site remains littered with piles of broken concrete and will require extensive prep work, he said.
Last month, developer Bruce Eichners Continuum Co. withdrew its interest in Biscayne Landing, leaving Swerdlow as the lone bidder on the project.
Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
