Cascade at Link, a new multifamily development built in partnership with Miami-Dade County by 13th Floor Investments and Adler Development, offers a glimpse into how transit-oriented development is being used to tackle Miami’s affordable housing crisis.
Developed as a joint venture between 13th Floor Investments and Adler Development, Cascade at Link is the second of two towers and part of a 7-acre master-planned development. Designed by locally based architecture and design firm Arquitectonica, construction of Cascade started in 2020, with the apartment project receiving its temporary certificate of occupancy in 2023.
Miami and South Florida, more broadly speaking, are in the grips of one of the country’s more severe housing crises. Local officials have increasingly turned to transit-oriented development to help provide additional housing options while avoiding suburban sprawl and traffic.
That need would lead to the formation of a joint venture between Adler and 13th Floor Investments in 2015. The two approached the county and would later enter into a 90-year ground lease to develop the county-owned land into a destination.
Today, the surface-level parking lot and vacant space that occupied the land at 3050 SW 37th Ave. is over 80% occupied. The apartment complex features 421 units, averaging about 936 square feet of space across 404,000 square feet of residential space. Residents and neighbors also enjoy 22,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space anchored by grocery store Milam’s Market and an additional 25,000-square-foot plaza that connects to the adjacent Miami Metrorail system, providing a direct connection to the city’s downtown and airport.
The project has been selected as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for multifamily development of the year, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the Project: Cascade at Link is part of Link at Douglas, a 7-acre master-planned mixed-use development, a public-private partnership with Miami-Dade County and a joint venture between 13th Floor Investments and Adler Development. As part of its development, the Douglas Road Metrorail station and surrounding area received a number of infrastructure improvements, including relocated bus bays, improved canopies to protect against the weather, a new access road and numerous station improvements, as well as public art mural and refreshed station fencing.
What the Judges Said: “Cascade at Link was selected as the Multifamily Development of the Year because it caused all developers to ‘re-think’ what residential development could look like in Coral Gables, not to mention a Transit-Oriented Development project. It's sheer size literally stands alone along US 1. And the addition of a supermarket in the project, helped to improve an area that was desperately in need of one,” said Steven Mayers, a real estate adviser for Miami-Dade County.
They Made It Happen: David Adler, CEO of Adler Development, Jonathan Raiffe, president and CEO of Adler Properties; Timothy Sterling, president of construction at Adler Development; Morgan Sirlin, vice president at Adler Development; Arnaud Karsenti, managing principal at 13th Floor Investments; Daryl Shevin, CFO of 13th Floor Investments; Ray Melendi, COO of 13th Floor Investments; Aaron Stolear, president of development at 13th Floor Investments; Chris Cassella, managing director of Barings and Kevin Miller, managing director and head of acquisitions at Barings.