Vertical construction is underway on a 12-story luxury apartment tower at 912 to 921 East Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, where ground-floor structural columns are already rising noticeably taller than the residential floors above them to make room for a parking podium ramp, lobby rotunda, and amenity spaces. The project, called The Aurelian, will bring 161 high-end residences ranging from one to three bedrooms to a corridor that has quietly become one of the busiest construction zones in the city.
The site's path to construction traces back to 2018, when the Coral Gables City Commission approved a 151-to-161-unit mixed-use project called Regency on the Park for the same 1.2-acre parcel, according to Florida YIMBY. Those existing entitlements let Zug, Switzerland-based Empira Group skip a lengthy re-entitlement process after purchasing the land for $18 million in 2025, per The Real Deal. The 1.2-acre site had been assembled by seller Alliance Starlight LLC for a combined $6.17 million through purchases in 2005 and 2016, illustrating just how much land values along East Ponce de Leon have climbed over two decades, the outlet reported.
Behar Font & Partners, the Coral Gables-based firm that designed the earlier Regency on the Park proposal, is also the architect of record for The Aurelian. Lead architect Robert Behar spent four terms on the city's Planning and Zoning Board as a mayoral appointee before his tenure ended in May 2025, according to the Coral Gables Gazette.
An $18 Million Bet From Switzerland
Empira Group opened its U.S. headquarters in downtown Miami in 2024 and has since built out a regional pipeline that includes the 85-unit Enso in The Roads and the 26-story Perrin tower in Brickell, with the firm's Head of U.S. Investments, Rafael Aregger, steering the expansion, the Real Deal reported. Empira primarily manages capital on behalf of German pension funds, insurance firms, and banks, and it accelerated its push into Miami in part due to European economic volatility following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, per the same account. In May 2025, the firm secured a $111.3 million construction loan from Goldman Sachs for the Perrin project, an arrangement handled by Newmark that underscores the scale of institutional lending behind Empira's South Florida portfolio, according to Bisnow.
General contractor Ortega Construction has erected an on-site tower crane to support the roughly 324,000-square-foot build, the same Florida YIMBY report noted. The Aurelian will not include ground-floor retail, but the building's amenity package is substantial: a resort-style swimming pool, fitness center, yoga studio, communal working space, outdoor lounges, and 248 parking spots spread across a multi-level podium. Empira also plans to expand the surrounding sidewalk and build a colonnade along the property as part of its investment in the surrounding streetscape, per Floridian Development.
A $300,000 Bronze Centerpiece
Public art is baked into the project. The Coral Gables City Commission voted 4-0 in September 2025 to approve a $300,000 public art commission by Miami Beach artist Michele Oka Doner for The Aurelian, funded by the developer under the city's Art in Public Places program, according to Coral Gables Magazine. The commission calls for a 10-foot cast-bronze sculpture positioned in the building's lobby rotunda, visible to passersby from the street. City ordinance requires private developments to set aside funds for public art or contribute to a municipal art fund, the outlet noted.
Beyond the sculpture, The Aurelian is set to include 5,000 square feet of public park space with a children's play area on the 1.2-acre site, according to Miami Condo Investments. Local planning officials had previously emphasized public open space during earlier design discussions for the North Gables corridor, the outlet reported.
Part of a Larger North Gables Building Wave
The Aurelian is one piece of a broader residential surge bringing 362 new apartments to the Galiano Street corridor. Two blocks away, Shoma Group is building the 16-story, 201-unit Ponce 8, the first project approved in Coral Gables under Florida's Live Local Act, which lets developers exceed local height and density limits when at least 40 percent of units are designated workforce housing, the Coral Gables Gazette reported. Hoodline previously covered Shoma's Ponce 8 land buy, which sits in contrast to The Aurelian's all market-rate rental model built on pre-existing entitlements rather than density bonuses.
The two projects add to a wider pattern of investment activity along Ponce de Leon Boulevard, following Hoodline's reporting on the city's office lease at 2020 Ponce and a separate $98 million investor purchase of a nearby office campus. The Aurelian is planned for completion in 2028, according to Florida YIMBY, meaning the North Gables skyline will keep changing for at least another two years as the tower and its Ponce 8 neighbor climb in tandem.
