Landmark Properties, the owners of popular off-campus student housing facilities The Cloisters Miami and The Standard at Coral Gables, are in the process of acquiring University Plaza for a new student housing complex.
The plaza, located across from the University of Miami on South Dixie Highway, contains the Bagel Emporium, Sushi Sake and Baptist Urgent Care, all frequented by UM students.
The proposed project, called “The Mark,” is planned to be a mixed-use apartment complex containing retail and restaurants on the ground floor. There will be 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units and 151 three-bedroom units in two eight-story towers. The towers will be connected by a bridge on the fifth floor.
“The Mark” will be built on a 3.2 acre lot,last sold for $4.2 million in 2015.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $70 million, and there is currently no timeline for its completion. The proposal also details no plans of what will happen to current tenants at properties like the European Wax Center.
Landmark Properties, along with the architects of the project, Behar Font and Partners, presented the project to the Coral Gables Development Review Committee in June 2023. The two architects have received preliminary approval from the Coral Gables Board of Architects.
The next step is for the Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board to look over the project, a meeting that will take place on April 10.
The project is proposing to change the zoning district of the property from a mixed-use one to a mixed-use two. This change, according to the Miami-Dade Standard Urban Center District Regulations, would allow the building to be over five stories and contain live and work units, which allow business owners to live upstairs and work their business below.
The submission of this proposal coincided with the opening of Landmark’s newest student housing complex, the Cloisters. This complex welcomed hundreds of UM students last fall, but many complaints and problems led to The Miami Hurricane publishing five articles detailing student’s housing horrors.
On top of opening late and moving students into hotels, many tenants were subjected to gas leaks, mold, sewage overflows and delayed repairs, causing many to break their lease and move out.
Both the Coral Gables government and Behar Font and Partners refused to comment on the project and Landmark Properties did not reply to a request for comment.