Construction is Underway for Platform 3750 Project in West Grove Neighborhood Miami

Platform 3750, a mixed-use project in the West Grove neighborhood of Miami has just broke ground at 3750 South Dixie Highway on 2.1 acres. This site is within walking distance of the Douglas Road Metrorail Station. The Cornerstone Group is the lead developer for this mixed-use project and is currently leasing from Miami-Dade County after winning a request for the RFP process.

This project is expected to create 300 jobs and is designed to ‘jumpstart economic activity’ in West Grove. It is anticipated to have 191 apartments, 21,000 square feet of retail space already leased to Aldi and Starbucks, 14,000 square feet of office space for the Cornerstone Group, 12,500 square feet of office space for the county’s Community Action & Human Services division, 3,000 square feet for the district office of county Commissioner Raquel Regalado, and 400 parking spaces.

Cornerstone Partner, Lenny Wolfe states, “West Grove has been neglected for a while. There was a very small amount of affordable housing built there and there is tremendous need. And it’s a food desert because there’s a real need for an affordable grocery store.”

This project was designed by Kobi Karp Architecture and the general contractor is Current Builders

The loan for this project includes a $60.5 million loan, $8 million county’s surtax, $3.5 million city government obligation bond, $1.95 million city Home loan, $1.4 million from the county economic development fund, and $5 million in tax credit equity.

Cornerstone Partners announced that they anticipate this project to be completed by the end of 2022.

Coconut Grove’s Ace Theater Placed on National Register of Historic Places

Photo via Google Street View.

The Ace Theater in the West Grove, which was built in the 1930s and one of the few movie theaters to cater to Miami’s black community in the intervening decades of segregation (Real Deal says it was the “only” one in the ’50s, which doesn’t sound quite right. For one thing, the Olympia had a black section.) has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places following a campaign by its owners, longtime Coconut Grove residents The Wallace Family. Following the designation, the Wallaces plan to preserve and restore the theater as a multi-use entertainment venue, taking advantage of tax credits and transferable development rights to make the project more appealing to investors. Although a similar project championed by many Grove-ites, the restoration of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, has been dormant for years, frustrating some people who see the similarities between the two, the restoration of the Ace could be absolutely fantastic for the West Grove, Miami’s oldest black neighborhood, and for the preservation of Miami’s black heritage as a whole.