After two decades mired in intrigue, delays and lawsuits a mixed use project named “VOX Miami” is now finally under construction on the corner of Sunset Drive and US1 at the gateway to SOMI’s retail and restaurant district.
VOX Miami, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development, will serve as a central point of connectivity with a major student housing component and a Class-A office building. With Miami’s commitment to funding The Underline, transit-oriented developments around Dade County are on the rise.
component facing SW 70 Street. The present parking garage site is being
rehabilitated with new height construction and new street scape frontage.
Developers The TREO group, in collaboration with Miami Dade County officials, have kept the needs of the community in mind while planning VOX Miami. It is poised to become a transportation hub for the region. VOX Miami’s enhancements to the South Miami Metrorail Station are projected to increase ridership and help drive additional revenue to nearby retail destinations in the South Miami Town Center business district. The development will also cater to the housing demands of University of Miami by providing student housing and seamless public transportation options to get to and from campus.
Breaking ground on this first phase of VOX Miami, the project will deliver an eight-story, off-campus student housing building with 326 beds amidst 99 units. Set for delivery August 2021, just in time for the 2021-2022 academic year, it is designed to elevate the residential experience for UM graduate and undergraduate students.
SITE DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND
Harkening back to the mid-1990s a mixed use project called “Hometown Station” was designed by Dover Kohl & Associates, renowned and locally established urban planners. That project called for retail and residential uses. However, in 2002-03, the Miami-Dade Housing Authority chose the South Miami Metrorail site for its new $27 million, 157,000 square foot office complex. Gone was the “hometown charm” of the initial project. However infrastructure and design issues were alleged and the county ultimately cancelled the entire project.
While within the City of South Miami, the parcels abutting the Metrorail right-of-way are Miami-Dade County property under the control of the transit department.
As the battle over Hometown Station was waged and ultimately lost, South Miami residents and visitors were left with a barren plot of county-owned land surrounded by Jersey barriers and green construction fencing. Eight long years later, the city was able to carve out 17,000 square feet for a passive park through a $1 per annum lease agreement with the county. The park was formally opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 24, 2009, complete with John Henry’s sculpture, “Paciencia.”
The site is now being developed by the Coconut Grove based The TREO Group, a privately held real estate investment firm. As noted, this mixed use mass transit-oriented development has two components: a state-of-the-art office building and student housing. The project has compelling architecture designed by Perkins+Will, an internationally-renowned American architecture and design firm. The project will complement the SOMI’s live-work-play-learn environment.
Walk Score® has rated the project’s immediate area as a “Walker’s Paradise.” The area enjoys multiple upscale retail shops and restaurants, and the planned redevelopment of The Shops at Sunset Place.
It is apparent that investors and developers are looking to this suburban neighborhood as an opportunity for growth.
The Art in Public Places sculpture is aptly named “Pacienca” for it speaks to the two decades it has taken to bring transit oriented development to South Miami.
John Edward Smith
