Miami city commissioners voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance that ultimately paves the way for micro units in Miami. The new ordinance reduces the minimum size of a residence from 400 SF to a mere 275 SF. Where property is zoned for over 150 units per acre, the new ordinance would only apply to transit zones near the Metromover and Metrorail stations. Developers have set their sights on the fast-growing Downtown Miami and Wynwood, where land is becoming extremely scarce and expensive. Related Group, Moishe Mana, Jeff Greene, Tony Cho's Metro 1 and PMG are all in support of bringing micro units to South Florida's urban areas. Those in support of micro units hold that they bring affordable housing options to densely populated urban areas as well as allow residents to enjoy high-quality and amenity rich lifestyles in walkable, urban neighborhoods. In 2014 the Urban Land Institute published a study that claimed smaller units have higher occupancy rates; units under 600 SF had 91.3% occupancy rates while units that ranged from 600 SF to 1,000 SF had occupancy rates of 89.6% and units above 1,000 SF had occupancy rates of 89.3%. Others believe that the new ordinance will allow them to build more units on a smaller footprint. Related Group is already maxing-out the Miami 21 Zoning Code minimum unit size in their new Wynwood 25 mixed-use project that will feature 289 residential units which start around 400 SF. Wynwood 25 is under development by Related Group and East End Capital.
Despite that, other developers feel that micro units will not make living more affordable. Carlos Melo, principal of the Melo Group, one of South Florida's most prolific and largest developers, holds that the cost of land will hold the price per unit the same no matter the size. He holds that in urban areas where land is even more scarce to assemble such as New York City, micro units make sense, but not in Miami where residents will have larger, more luxurious options for the same price and developers still have the ability to assemble land. The ability to assemble land in South Florida, in which Miami has seen the final waterfront development plots be picked up and land-banked or developed over the past cycle, has led to South Florida producing some of the finest residential buildings the world has ever seen across a variety of price ranges including NIR Investment's CANVAS to Dezer Development's Porsche Design Tower. All of these towers feature a slew of amenities from private beach clubs to squash courts and cigar rooms. Where micro units shine, there are not comparable buildings to compete with and typically residents must choose between an old but large unit or a brand new, modern, smaller unit. Few residential buildings in New York that offer units that are either micro units or would compete with micro units amenities that make buildings differ from each other. If in Miami for the same price you could live in a large, new amenity rich condo for the same price as a micro unit, the demand for micro units remain to be seen.