Builders think outside boundary

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

South Florida's Turnberry Associates -- known for condos, hotels and malls - joined the growing ranks of developers buying land outside the Urban Development Boundary.

MIAMI HERALD - Front Page
Posted on Tue, Oct. 13, 2005

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN
mhaggman@herald.com

The Urban Development Boundary once seemed a nearly impregnable line that blocked large-scale development beyond its western and southern edges.

But emboldened developers are now flocking in increasing numbers to the far reaches of Miami-Dade with new confidence that they can persuade county leaders to allow development outside the boundary, or UDB, despite a host of environmental and other concerns about the march of sprawl.

Turnberry Associates -- among South Florida's best-known developers -- has quietly joined the list of developers buying land outside the line. The Aventura-based developer paid $20 million for 64 acres west of the boundary at the southwest corner of Northwest 41st Street and Florida's Turnpike.

The land purchase comes as developers are making the biggest push in years to move the county's development boundary.

Turnberry executives haven't disclosed any plans for the property, although a consultant who said he has done work on the property said Turnberry is contemplating a retail development on the site. The parcel is located immediately west of the growing city of Doral and is on a turnpike exit.

Turnberry's projects have included high-rise condominiums in South Florida and Las Vegas, and the Aventura Mall, and it is currently overhauling the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. But it hasn't previously gambled on buying land outside the UDB.

''For developers in Dade County, they believe the brakes are off the train,'' said Alan Farago, an organizer in the Hold the Line campaign, which seeks to stop any amendment to the development boundary. "Now it's get what you can as fast as you can.''

LIMITS DEVELOPMENT

Established in 1975, the boundary limits development outside the line to one dwelling per five acres. Applications to move the line are filed with the county in April of every odd year, unless the project is a ''development of regional impact.'' Applications for those especially large projects can be filed anytime, but face tougher scrutiny.

After a lengthy review, a two-thirds vote of the Miami-Dade County Commission is required to adjust the line.

In recent history, officials have rarely budged on the line. The County Commission hasn't changed the UDB for a residential development since 1993. And only after a bruising fight was the line moved in 2002 for two separate industrial projects -- one by developer Armando Codina called Beacon Lakes, and another by a development group that included state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

But this year, developers filed nine applications and two DRIs seeking to move the line. An application for a third DRI is expected to be filed in the next few months.

The projects range from massive new residential communities to an industrial park to a new Lowe's Home Center, according to county filings. Developers seeking to build such projects include Lennar Corp., Shoma Homes and D.R. Horton.

''You are seeing it because there is a strong belief that the line will be moved in the next 24 months,'' said developer Edward W. Easton, chairman of The Easton Group in Miami who has partnered with Lennar on one of the projects seeking to move the line.

"It is an opportunity to have developable land at a reasonable price -- and there is such a shortage of developable land inside the boundary.''

The Miami-Dade Department of Planning & Zoning has concluded, however, that there is enough developable land within the boundary to last until at least 2018. It has also reviewed nine of the UDB amendment applications, recommending that seven be rejected.

VOTE IN NOVEMBER

The County Commission is set to vote on nine of the applications on Nov. 21. Approved applications go to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for review. Applications then return to the County Commission for a final vote in the spring.

But even if opponents beat back the current batch of applications, it appears they may still face a second wave of developers seeking to move the line.

Shoma Homes, Lucky Start at Westland, and Neighborhood Planning Co. have bought large tracts of land outside the boundary in recent months, as first reported in The Daily Business Review.

As for Turnberry, company principal Jeffrey Soffer acknowledged it bought the land but referred calls to his sister Jacquelyn Soffer, head of its retail operations. A representative for Jacquelyn Soffer, in turn, referred calls to another Turnberry executive, who couldn't be reached for comment.

Andrew Dolkart of Miami Economic Associates represents several developers seeking to move the boundary and says he did work for Turnberry on its West Miami-Dade parcel. He said the developer is contemplating ``some form of mall.''

Attempts to develop the property will likely face particularly fierce resistance, because it is near a well field that supplies much of Miami-Dade's drinking water.

Dolkart said ''the well field does not prevent development from occurring,'' but he acknowledged "it is a significant and important well field.''