Lennar has changed its land bank partner for 423 homesites in the Keys Gate residential subdivision in Homestead, Florida, through a $24 million transaction. According to public records, JEN Partners, based in New York, sold the lots to DW Partners, another New York-based firm. The deal was valued at $23.98 million.
As part of this agreement, Lennar ended its purchase option with JEN Partners and entered into a new purchase option agreement with DW Partners that extends until 2031.
The homesites involved are located south of Southwest 344th Street and east of Southwest 162nd Avenue.
DW Partners is led by David Warren and Robert Clark. Founded in 2009, it operates as an alternative asset manager.
Lennar, headquartered in Miami and recognized as the second largest homebuilder nationwide as well as the largest in south Miami-Dade County, uses land banks to secure development sites years ahead of construction. This approach allows Lennar to keep land ownership costs off its balance sheet and maintain cash flow for building homes.
In addition to JEN Partners, Lennar works with other land bank partners such as Garrett Development from Scottsdale, Arizona, and TPG Angelo Gordon from New York. Earlier this year, Lennar also spun off Millrose Properties into a separate publicly traded land bank entity.
Stuart Miller leads Lennar alongside Jon Jaffe, who is expected to retire from the company this year.
Securing development sites early is particularly important for Lennar due to limited availability of buildable land in Miami-Dade County. The southern area remains one of the few places suitable for single-family and townhome developments.
Over recent years, developers have focused on acquiring property and proposing projects in south Miami-Dade. Data from Colliers Research shows that since 2020 Lennar has completed nearly 70 percent of finished homes in this region and accounts for about 60 percent of future projects under development.
Within Keys Gate itself, Lennar submitted a proposal in 2022 for constructing 1,335 homes along with a golf course on approximately 350 acres.
Other stakeholders at Keys Gate include Mast Capital from Miami. In 2021 it acquired a complex with 292 townhomes at 1140 Southeast 24th Road for $50.8 million.
Elsewhere in south Miami-Dade County other major developers are active as well. D.R. Horton from Arlington, Texas—the country’s largest homebuilder—has proposed building a complex with 108 townhomes on several parcels in Florida City. Terra Group based in Coconut Grove has plans to redevelop part of the South Dade Government Center site into a project featuring more than 700 units under Florida’s Live Local Act initiative; its first phase would include two eight-story buildings offering about 362 residential units and parking facilities for up to 458 vehicles.
