JDS Development Group Lands $86 Million In Financing For 64-Story Mixed-Use Development At 1 Southside Park

1 Southside Park – Street View. Courtesy of JDS Development Group

The SHoP-designed tower is envisioned as a series of stacked and shifted volumes that purposefully breakdown its scale. Each level is carefully designed to create both form and function for the multi-use structure: residential, hotel, microunits, office, and wellness. At the center of the building’s ground floor is a pedestrian paseo that consciously connects pedestrians from Southwest 2nd Avenue to Southside Park. The paseo is framed by the new ground floor lobbies and café space.

“1 Southside Park’s thoughtful, dynamic design serves as an exemplar for how we can design and develop in dense urban centers,” said Michael Stern, Founder and CEO of JDS Development Group. “We look forward to going vertical in the near future for this multifaceted project.”

1 Southside Park – Park View. Courtesy of JDS Development Group

1 Southside Park will introduce a new kind of thoughtful and imaginative urban experience to Miami, a destination for residents seeking long and short-term rental options, for travelers seeking a local hangout, for workers seeking a fully amenitized offering, and for locals and residents alike seeking the best in health and wellness services. The project will include the first Treehouse hotel in the United States, with multiple food and beverage outlets, and vibrant public arenas. As part of the Brickell Rapid Transit Zone, the project will enhance access to public transportation, provide direct connection to the Underline’s Brickell Backyard, revive and reinvigorate Southside Park.

These tiers are most openly expressed at the health program levels, which will offer world-class programming on a membership basis. The proposed design achieves a seamless transition from the Southside Park greenspace to the urban environment of the Brickell area. The distinctive architecture of interconnected indoor and outdoor spaces and planted terraces and edges provide a lush vertical backdrop and visual connection to Southside Park. The project will employ many strategies across all components in pursuit of the Florida Green Building Coalition’s high-rise certification. Energy-efficient attributes include, but are not limited to, efficient fixtures, smart technology, local materials, water re-use, and extensive landscaping.

1 Southside Park – Wellness. Courtesy of JDS Development Group.

Southside Park is the heart and inspiration of the proposed design for 1 Southside Park. A beloved neighborhood gathering place, the park’s proposed design adds an enclosed dog run with dedicated spaces for small and large dogs, seating areas, water features, opportunities for public art, playgrounds for different age groups, a new basketball court, and space for active programming such as movie nights and community sports events. The historic schoolhouse will be highlighted as a resource for the park and the neighborhood. This programming is “nestled within the canopy of majestic ficus trees and lush tropical gardens, inspired by its South Florida setting,” says Isabel Castilla, Principal-in-Charge of the project for James Corner Field Operations, a leading-edge urban design, landscape architecture and public realm practice. The firm is renowned for strong contemporary design across a variety of high-profile project types and scales with a special commitment to the design of vibrant and dynamic public realms, informed by the interactive ecology between people and nature. The proposed design preserves the beautiful, mature trees and expands the existing canopy with new trees, while providing enhanced and deliberate direct access to the Brickell Backyard, a corridor of green and active public spaces. The entirety of the block is conceived as a harmonious pedestrian and public realm with an integrated design and material palette.

1 Southside Park. Courtesy of JDS Development Group.

“One of the things Brickell is missing is an iconic park — NYC has Central Park, Chicago has Millennium Park — these are experiential spaces that help define cities,” says Stern. “These spaces offer moments of tranquility to complement the hustle and bustle of the surrounding cityscape. As it stands today, Southside Park is an oasis within the Brickell area. Through our public-private partnership with the City of Miami, we will be making significant improvements which will elevate it — along with the adjacent Underline — to the world-class status the Brickell area deserves.”

1 Southside Park. Courtesy of JDS Development Group.

“We are pleased to have arranged another strong financing package for JDS, one of the best development firms in the nation,” stated Aaron Appel of Walker & Dunlop. “Maxim is a reliable, transparent, and trustworthy lender, and 1 Southside Park will be transformative to the Brickell neighborhood at a key time for the growth of the city.”

“We are excited to help Michael Stern and the JDS team continue the development of 1 South Side Park. It is an exciting project and one that will be transformational to the area,” stated Adam Glick, Founder and Managing Partner of Maxim Capital Group.

The financing from Maxim Capital Group was arranged by Walker & Dunlop’s Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, and Adam Schwartz, as well as Michael Diaz, Sean Reimer, Mo Beler, and Sean Bastian. The team replaced the existing land acquisition loan with a bridge construction loan at a lower rate and higher proceeds on behalf of JDS. The project is completing its foundation work with deep soil mixing operations and the two-level basement complete. The deal indicates conviction in the development team, the high-design product by SHoP Architects and the strength of the Brickell market.

Back in February 2022, JDS filed applications with the Federal Aviation Administration for permits to build both towers. The end754-feet, or 766-feet above sea level, and 708-feet, or 720-feet above sea level,

Plaza Construction is the general contractor. Foundation work is expected to commence later this year.