Wood Partners’ Alta Mira in Miami Passes Half-Way Mark in Leasing

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Miami—It’s boom time in Miami multifamily, if the speed at which new properties are leasing is any indication. For example, according to Wood Partners, the 240-unit Alta Mira in Miami, which opened for leasing only four months ago, is now 50 percent occupied.

The $31.9 million garden-style property, which is designed around a number of courtyards, is one block west of Biscayne Blvd. at NE 16th Ave., and is the first new development of its kind in this area of North Miami since the mid-‘90s, according to Wood Partners. Alta Mira features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 733 square feet to 1319 square feet, with prices ranging from $1,300 to $1,995.

The property includes a 3,680-square-foot clubhouse with a resident lounge, coffee bar, gaming area, fitness studio and kids’ playroom. A covered arcade overlooks a pool and three interconnected landscaped parks. Unit amenities include Energy Star appliances, track lighting, six-panel doors, ceiling fans and double-pane windows and doors.

Miami-Dade is one of the tighter apartment markets in the country. According to investment specialist Marcus & Millichap, a net of about 1,700 units were absorbed this year, and demand has kept up with–or exceeded–supply in the years since Miami pulled out of the recession. Even local growth in for-sale housing hasn’t slowed the pace of rental absorption, since many buyers are overseas investors who weren’t in the market to rent.

The market’s at some risk of excess supply, however. In 2012, only 900 new units were completed; this year, about 2,500 will be. Moreover, permits for 7,300 new apartment units have been issued in Dade County this year, with a good fraction of them slated for completion in 2014.