The first project in collaboration between Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD), Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces (PROS), and Miami-Dade Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) with the private sector created to provide attainable housing solutions to seniors has been given the green light to begin construction. MV Real Estate Holdings, LLC is set to break ground on the highly anticipated Ludlam Trail Towers on March 14 in Miami, Florida. Positioned between Coral Way and Southwest 69th Avenue intersection, the project is estimated to cost $25 million.

Centennial Bank provided a $7.5 million construction loan to Ludlam Trail Towers, LLC. The Bank’s SVP, Senior Commercial Loan Officer Yuleisy Montalvo, worked jointly with Lument, who is providing a guaranteed Freddie Mac permanent takeout with a fixed rate to Ludlam Trail Towers upon receipt of its certificate of occupancy (CO). Centennial Bank is a full-service financial institution with branches in Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, and New York and nearly $24 billion in total assets.

“This project is the culmination of the vision of the elected County officials and administrators seeking to help the most vulnerable in our society, the County Parks Department looking to bring the Ludlam Trail to fruition, the Miami-County Department of Transportation seeking to provide connectivity to the Trail over Coral Way and MV Real Estate Holdings who is contributing private dollars and will ultimately be building and executing on this vision that we believe will be transformative to so many,” said Alex Mantecon, managing partner of MV Real Estate Holdings.

Led by Alex Mantecon and Guillermo D. Vadell, managing MV Real Estate Holdings members, Ludlam Trail Towers is expected to redefine attainable housing solutions in a submarket that has not seen any projects with similar characteristics in over a decade. The funding of this project was a collaboration of private equity dollars and four different funding sources at the County level with financing provided by Centennial Bank who provided the construction loan, Lument who provided a Freddie Mac forward commitment and a Miami-County Surtax gap funding loan. This structure allowed the construction lender to be more aggressive in this challenging environment. The financing teams were spearheaded by JC de Ona and Yuleisy Montalvo at Centennial and Marc Suarez at Lument.

“It is great to see not only the public private partnership step up but also the capital markets to support the development of affordable housing,” said Marc Suarez, Managing Director at Lument.

"We are honored to be part of a project that touches upon so many critical needs in our community and to shed light into a parcel of the population that is often forgotten," said Alex Mantecon, managing partner of MV Real Estate Holdings. "There is no doubt that Ludlam Trail Towers will redefine urban living in Miami-Dade County for the elderly while at the same time creating a one-of-a-kind amenity in the Ludlam Trail linear park to be enjoyed by all."

The 64 rental units development composed of two buildings with four and five-story will encompass 760-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom units to 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom residences. The towers on either side of Coral Way will be connected by a pedestrian bridge that spans over Coral Way and will be a part of the Ludlam Trail.

The project will leverage its exclusive location with direct access to the Ludlam Trail linear park and include a multipurpose room available for the public, allowing residents to interact with them while allowing them to participate in fitness activities. The property is located along the Ludlam Trail, a 6.2-mile multiuse public trail running north to south from Miami International Airport to Dadeland Mall. It will connect with the Underline and circle back to Downtown Miami, thus creating 16 miles of uninterrupted trails inside our urban core.

“Our seniors struggling with rising costs across the board deserve access to safe and affordable housing," said Commissioner Kevin Cabrera. "I’m excited to see the construction of the Ludlam Trail Towers, which help the seniors of our district live out their golden years with dignity. Looking forward to continuing to work with our partners on initiatives to tackle our community’s housing crisis.”

The Ludlam Trail Towers is one of the many scheduled residential projects for the trail as part of the redevelopment of the abandoned railroad track. Additional projects on the trail include a 312-unit apartment complex on the Bird Road Node also led by MV Real Estate Holdings in partnership with Altman Companies and Mattoni Group, an 84-unit workforce housing complex on 8th street, and a 950-unit apartment building with retail stores, and a dog park on 8th street as well; every project is currently in different phases of development.

First Florida is the General Construction company responsible for Ludlum Trail Towers with an expected completion date by the summer of 2024. Reservations will be available starting spring of 2024.