A developer has secured an $84.5 million construction loan to build a 366-unit apartment complex across from Tropical Park in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, moving forward on a project that will eventually reshape a stretch of the Bird Road Art District long known for its warehouses and artist studios. The loan will fund the first phase of Vybe 75, an eight-story mixed-use development planned at 4383 SW 75th Avenue.
PNC Bank provided the financing, according to The Real Deal, which reported that the site currently consists primarily of industrial warehouses situated directly across Southwest 75th Avenue from Tropical Park. Miami-based developer Coastland Residential is behind the project, which Florida YIMBY reports is designed by Corwil Architects and identified in Miami-Dade County records as Vybe Residential – Phase I, with a final plat approved earlier this year.
Of the 366 apartments planned in this first phase, roughly 55 units — about 15% — will be set aside as workforce housing for households earning up to 120% of Area Median Income, while the remaining 85% will rent at market rate, per the same account from The Real Deal. Based on Miami-Dade County's Area Median Income of $89,800, that 120% AMI cap translates to income limits of $114,480 for a single person, $130,800 for a two-person household, and $147,120 for a three-person household, according to the outlet's reporting.
A Multi-Phase Vision for the Bird Road District
Vybe 75 is only the first piece of a much larger plan. Coastland Residential expects the broader buildout in the area to eventually contain approximately 1,000 residences across multiple phases, along with additional neighborhood retail beyond the roughly 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space planned for this initial phase, per Florida YIMBY.
Anthony Seijas, principal of Coastland Residential, framed the project as an effort to grow the neighborhood without erasing what makes it distinct. “Successful neighborhoods evolve without losing their soul,” Seijas said, according to Florida YIMBY, adding that the Bird Road district already possesses an authentic identity. The outlet reports that Coastland aims to celebrate local artists, support local businesses, and create housing opportunities that let future generations continue to live, work, and call the community home.
The planned amenities lean toward a lifestyle-driven pitch aimed at Miami's working population: a co-working lounge, a movie theater lounge, a rooftop swimming pool and sundeck, a fitness center and yoga studio, a recovery spa, a pet spa, and a sports simulator are all part of the design, per Florida YIMBY's reporting. Raymond Jiménez, a Cuban-American Miami native who leads Miami-based design firm Raymond Nicholas, is overseeing the interior design of Vybe 75, drawing from the surrounding neighborhood and Miami's broader cultural influences, according to the outlet. No construction timeline has been disclosed.
Assembling Land Across a Historic Art District
Coastland first submitted pre-applications for the Bird Road project two years earlier, assembling 9.1 acres across multiple SW 75th Avenue parcels held under contract from Norle Properties Corp. and Leal Capital Trust, according to The Real Deal. The company holds a total portfolio of over 5,000 units representing $1.1 billion in overall development costs, the outlet reports, and Seijas previously spent more than 16 years as Regional Vice President of South East Florida for Lennar Corporation, where he also helped start its distressed asset investment division, Rialto Capital.
Coastland's completed South Florida projects include Vista Lago, a 288-unit apartment complex built in 2021 near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, and Hidden Lake, a 133-unit complex in Kendall, per the same Real Deal report. The company describes itself as focused on suburban and middle-market multifamily development, and Vybe 75 fits that mold as an infill project replacing older industrial buildings with new housing stock.
The site sits within what has been known since June 2000 as the Bird Road Art District, when Miami-Dade County officially designated the area as a formal framework for what had already become a hub of more than 20 artist studios, galleries, and monthly art walks, according to the Waterway Neighborhood Association. Florida YIMBY describes the district as an established commercial and arts area west of Coral Gables, centered around Bird Road and the surrounding industrial blocks. As new residential towers replace the warehouses that have long housed that creative community, the project underscores a familiar tension in South Florida infill development between growth and preservation.
County Incentives Behind the Workforce Housing Push
The workforce housing component reflects Miami-Dade County's broader push to encourage income-restricted units within private developments. The county's Workforce Housing Development Program offers developers incorporating 120% AMI units incentives including impact fee exemptions, density bonuses up to 25%, and expedited five-day building permit plan reviews, according to Miami-Dade County. Those incentives have made 120% AMI set-asides an increasingly common feature of large multifamily projects across the county, even as the bulk of new units in developments like Vybe 75 remain priced at market rate.
Coastland also plans to include additional retail space as part of the broader Bird Road district buildout, with the company saying it intends to invest thoughtfully in the area as it grows, Florida YIMBY reports. Whether that investment ultimately preserves the character of the district's remaining artist studios and industrial tenants, or accelerates their displacement as property values rise, remains to be seen as the first phase moves toward construction.
