Miami — A partnership between The Easton Group, Lennar and MPKA LLC has proposed City Park at West Kendall, a $2 billion, 990-acre master-planned community in Miami. The development team has filed its application with Miami-Dade County.
Plans call for 7,800 new homes in a variety of price points, including townhomes, multifamily units, single-family homes and workforce housing, as well as 1.4 million square feet of retail space and 500,000 square feet of office space. At the heart of the proposed project is Village Core, a walkable town center with shops, restaurants, entertainment, plazas and a boardwalk.
With the development application filed, the next step involves collaborating with local neighbors, government officials and community stakeholders to fine-tune the plan, according to Bill Albers, partner with MPKA, which is a consultant to the homebuilding industry.
City Park is expected to generate $2.4 billion in annual economic output for the county. The project is also estimated to create more than 19,000 construction jobs during build-out followed by more than 13,000 permanent jobs.
By reducing the need for daily commutes to job centers like downtown, Brickell, Doral and Coral Gables, City Park will also help reverse traffic patterns and ease congestion that has long plagued West Kendall’s roads, according to a release. The City Park team enlisted SWA Group, an urban planning and design firm, to reimagine how West Kendall could evolve into a connected community.
“City Park represents a complete community that has its own downtown, employment opportunities, schools, parks, transit and well-integrated bike trails — reducing pressure on regional commutes while increasing quality of life,” says Sean O’Malley, managing principal of SWA Group in Laguna Beach, Calif.
City Park will also help address Miami-Dade’s housing affordability crisis. According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, the county has lost more than 30,000 residents per year to domestic out-migration.
Townhomes are one of the most in-demand yet undersupplied formats of housing in the county, says Carlos Gonzalez, regional president of Lennar. “Without new communities like City Park, many middle-income families are forced to either downsize into costly high-rises or leave the county altogether.”
Anchored by the future City Park Transit Hub, the development will connect directly to the planned South Dade Bus Rapid Transit system. More than 10 miles of bike and pedestrian trails will also link to the county’s regional trail network.
The project offers convenient access to the Florida Turnpike, Don Shula Expressway and the Miami Executive Airport. Plans also call for 526,000 square feet of light-industrial space to support the airport’s expansion as a future spaceport.
The Easton Group is a Miami-based commercial real estate firm with a portfolio of more than 6 million square feet of industrial, office and retail space.
Lennar, founded in Miami-Dade County in 1954, is one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. The firm has built more than 1 million homes nationwide.
— Kristin Harlow