Resia has exited its planned Palmetto Station apartment project in Medley, transferring development rights to a new team that is expanding the complex. The project, now led by Jose Gonzalez of GLC Real Estate, Ivan Herrera of Unicapital Asset Management Group, and Alex Lastra of Desarrollo, will increase the number of residential units to 1,152.
The developers are leasing the site at 7701 Northwest 79th Avenue from Miami-Dade County under a 90-year agreement. According to Gonzalez, “We redesigned it into U-shaped buildings with a garage in the middle,” noting that Resia’s original design was for linear buildings.
In a statement, Resia confirmed it is “no longer involved with this project” and it “transferred the development rights to another developer.” Resia is a Miami-based multifamily developer and subsidiary of Brazilian homebuilder MRV.
Gonzalez launched GLC Real Estate after more than 27 years at Florida East Coast Industries. Herrera co-founded UniVista Insurance in 2009 and started Unicapital earlier this year following a partial sale of UniVista. Lastra founded Desarrollo in 2018 after working at Atlantic Pacific Companies.
The revised plans call for one eight-story building and two twelve-story buildings. The project will include 7,000 square feet of office and retail space along with 1,742 parking spaces in both garage and surface lots. The developers also plan renovations at the Palmetto Metrorail stop.
Resia’s initial proposal—created with MagicWaste Youth Foundation—called for four twelve-story buildings totaling 948 units, as well as more retail space and fewer parking spots. That version had received approval from county officials last year as part of Florida’s Live Local Act initiative. However, Gonzalez said the new team will not use Live Local but will still designate all apartments as workforce rentals for households earning up to 120 percent of area median income (AMI). Projects near major transit hubs like Palmetto Metrorail are permitted higher density under local regulations.
Miami-Dade’s annual AMI is $87,200 according to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
Gonzalez said one reason for redesigning was that Resia intended to use prefabricated kitchens and bathrooms produced at its Georgia facility—a method used recently at its completed Golden Glades complex in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Construction on Palmetto Station is expected to begin next summer. Residential development has been expanding from Hialeah into Medley, which traditionally consists mostly of industrial properties.
GLC Real Estate, Unicapital and Desarrollo also have future plans for an affordable housing project on land currently occupied by Miami-Dade’s overflow animal shelter. They are partnering with the county to build a new animal shelter elsewhere; once finished, they expect control over the current Medley site for further development.
