Resia has stepped away from the development of the Palmetto Station apartment complex in Medley, handing over the project to a new group of developers who plan to expand it significantly. Jose Gonzalez of GLC Real Estate, Ivan Herrera of Unicapital Asset Management Group, and Alex Lastra of Desarrollo are now leading the effort to build workforce housing at the Palmetto Metrorail station.
The development team took control in the second quarter and is leasing the property at 7701 Northwest 79th Avenue from Miami-Dade County on a 90-year lease. Resia confirmed its exit in a statement: “no longer involved with this project” and it “transferred the development rights to another developer.”
Gonzalez started GLC Real Estate after nearly three decades with Florida East Coast Industries. Herrera co-founded UniVista Insurance before launching Unicapital earlier this year following a partial sale of his previous company for $700 million. Lastra began Desarrollo in 2018 after working at Atlantic Pacific Companies for 15 years.
The revised plans call for one eight-story building and two twelve-story buildings, totaling 1,152 rental units—up from Resia’s original plan for four twelve-story buildings with 948 units. The updated design also includes 7,000 square feet of office and retail space and parking for 1,742 vehicles. Renovations are planned for the adjacent Palmetto Metrorail stop.
According to Gonzalez, all apartments will be workforce rentals intended for households earning up to 120 percent of Miami-Dade’s area median income (AMI), which stands at $87,200 per year as reported by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. While Resia had sought approval under Florida’s Live Local Act, the new developers will not use that legislation but will still offer higher density permitted near major transit hubs under county law.
Gonzalez said changes were made partly because Resia planned prefabricated kitchens and bathrooms—a method used in their recent Golden Glades project completed last month at 15955 Northwest Sixth Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. He explained: “We redesigned it into U-shaped buildings with a garage in the middle,” noting that Resia’s layout featured linear structures.
Construction on Palmetto Station is scheduled to begin next summer.
Development activity is increasing in Medley as residential projects move westward from Hialeah into areas previously dominated by industrial uses.
In addition to Palmetto Station, GLC Real Estate, Unicapital, and Desarrollo intend to develop an affordable housing project on land currently occupied by Miami-Dade’s overflow animal shelter at 7401 Northwest 74th Street. They are collaborating with Miami-Dade County on constructing a new animal shelter facility further south; once completed, ownership of the Medley site will shift to the developers.
