Broker Lyle Stern, Partner Plan Miami Live Local Act Tower

Commercial real estate brokers Lyle Stern and Kerry Newman propose a 400-unit Live Local Act project in Miami’s Allapattah.

Stern and Newman, of Miami Beach-based Vertical Real Estate, propose a 24-story building on a 1.2-acre site at 2186 Northwest 13th Avenue and 1330-1342 Northwest 22nd Street in Miami, according to their filing included in a city board meeting’s agenda. Stern and Newman, who own the site through an affiliate, are pursuing the project on their own, separate from Vertical.

The Miami Urban Development Review Board will vote on the project on Wednesday.

Designed by Built Form Architecture, the project will include 160 units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. That is consistent with the Live Local Act’s requirement that at least 40 percent of units are at below market-rate rents.

The developers are seeking approval for a warrant to include about 40 micro-units in the building, roughly ranging from 275 square feet to 399 square feet, according to the application. Under city code, micro-units are allowed on properties near mass transit hubs. The development site is near the Santa Clara Metrorail station.

Stern, who has been a fixture in South Florida’s commercial brokerage industry, launched Vertical in 2023 after parting with his longtime business partner Bruce Koniver. The pair founded and ran brokerage Koniver Stern for more than 30 years. Koniver joined Odyssey Retail Advisors after the split.

Stern and Newman have separately developed retail and warehouse projects in the past, Stern said. They also built a retail building in Miami Beach together. If their Live Local project is approved, it will mark their first residential development together.

The pair aren’t committed to developing the project, but decided to entitle the site because of the Live Local Act, Newman said.

“We are just increasing our options,” he said. “Down the road, either we will develop it or sell the land to another developer.”

They bought the site for $5.3 million in two deals in 2016, records show. It’s home to warehouses with industrial tenants. Stern and Newman may also keep the site and continue operating it as is, Newman said.

Live Local allows much larger projects than a site’s zoning permits, as long as developers include affordable and workforce units. The legislation also grants property tax exemptions.

Since the law was approved in 2023 and tweaked last year, landowners across South Florida have filed a flurry of Live Local applications. While many plan to build the projects, experts have said that simply entitling sites increases their value, allowing landlords to flip the properties at a profit.

Other Live Local proposals include former Major League Baseball player Alex Guerrero’s 41-story, 234-unit tower between Northwest Third and Fifth avenues, south of Northwest 37th Street in Miami’s Wynwood Norte neighborhood. The city’s urban development review board also will consider this proposal on Wednesday.

Also, Russell Galbut’s GFO Investments plans a 410-unit Live Local development with a 19-story building and a 16-story building at 7350 Coral Way in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The project will have a seven-story medical office building leased by development partner Dr. Jorge Perez, a neonatology and neonatal medicine specialist, and his team.

The Pérez family’s Related Group has filed several Live Local proposals. In Fort Lauderdale, it is partnering with the Toledano family’s BH Group and Pebb Enterprises on the planned 33-story The Quay tower with 521 apartments at 1515 Southeast 17th Street.