In a county where home prices feel like they are on permanent fast-forward, Ellen Buckley and her Miami-based firm, Prospera Real Estate Collective, are trying to hit pause for local buyers. The developer is moving ahead with two for-sale projects that would bring 93 below-market homes to Miami-Dade County: a five-story, 56-unit micro-condo building in Coconut Grove and a 37-unit townhome community near North Miami. Both are pitched as workforce and affordable ownership options meant to help local households stay put as costs climb.
Project details and prices
The Coconut Grove building, called Grand Bahamas Place, is set to offer studios through two-bedroom units restricted to buyers earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. Condos are projected to be priced between roughly $305,000 and $450,000. Up in unincorporated Miami-Dade near North Miami, Faith Place Village would include 37 for-sale townhomes reserved for households earning up to 120 percent of AMI, with prices capped at $494,000.
Grand Bahamas Place is designed with nearly 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, a 4,000-square-foot religious and community space and nine parking spots. Prospera estimates the Grove project will cost about $23 million, including the land purchase. The firm also says it has a larger pipeline of projects in the works and is lining up construction financing, according to The Real Deal.
Public funding and approvals
City records show the Housing and Commercial Loan Committee has recommended allocating up to $4.2 million from the voter-approved Miami Forever bond to support Grand Bahamas Place in Coconut Grove. That recommendation is detailed in the City of Miami Housing and Community Loan Committee agenda.
Design and neighborhood context
Developers say the name Grand Bahamas Place is a nod to West Grove’s Bahamian settlers, and that the smaller unit sizes are a deliberate attempt to keep ownership within reach in a neighborhood where typical sales prices run much higher. The micro-condos are planned at roughly 400 to 650 square feet. At street level, the scale of the commercial space is meant to support local entrepreneurs rather than replace them with large-format retail.
Community leaders and organizers in the corridor have publicly backed the push for more owned housing options, viewing homeownership as one way to help longtime residents stay put, as reported by WLRN.
Faith Place Village near North Miami
Faith Place Village would rise on a roughly 2.1-acre parcel next to Faith Community Baptist Church and deliver 37 one- and two-story for-sale townhomes. The homes are intended for buyers earning up to 120 percent of AMI, with prices capped at $494,000.
Property records show an entity tied to Prospera paid about $604,000 for the lot adjacent to the church. The developer estimates the project’s total cost at roughly $15.3 million and says it aims to wrap construction by the end of next year while it continues working to finalize financing, according to The Real Deal.
Where this fits regionally
The two projects arrive as Miami-Dade accelerates production of affordable and partially affordable housing under a mix of new state and local incentives, including the Live Local Act and city programs that pair public funding with homeownership initiatives. Market data show Miami-Dade accounts for a sizable share of South Florida’s fully or partially affordable units now under construction, and housing advocates say teaming public dollars with church land and nonprofit partners has become a practical formula for small-scale ownership projects. Those broader patterns are outlined in market analysis from MIAMI Realtors.
What’s next
Before any ground is broken, Prospera and its partners still need to secure final entitlements, lock down construction loans and complete permitting. Developers say they plan to pair sales with homebuyer education and down-payment assistance programs to help qualified buyers actually close on these units.
Local reporting and city materials indicate the projects will continue to move through administrative approvals and community outreach while financing and permits are tied up, and the development team hopes to launch construction once those pieces fall into place, per WLRN.
