Most Residents Living Car Free At New 1600 Unit Transit Oriented Development

Link at Douglas, a massive transit-oriented development next to the Metrorail, is attracting lots of residents living a car-free lifestyle.

More than half of residents who have moved into the newly completed apartments don’t have a car, the developer told Local10.

The Douglas Road Metrorail station is attached to the complex and is getting a beautification as part of the project. The developer is said to be spending $17 million on a public plaza and station beautification.

The complex includes a 37-story apartment tower called Cascade – said to be the tallest south of Brickell.

Cascade, which has 421 apartments, received a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on January 5, with move-ins starting in mid-January.

Prices at Cascade start at $2,600 per month, with unit sizes ranging from 510 to 1,323 square feet.

A Milam’s Market is located on the ground floor.

Another 22-story tower at the complex called CORE was completed in 2021, with 312 apartments, and 6,000 feet of ground-floor retail.

Link at Douglas will eventually include around 1,600 residential units, over 32,000 square feet of retail space, and a public plaza that connects with The Underline.

The project is being developed by 13th Floor Investments and Adler Development, in partnership with global investment manager Barings.

 

Photos from December, before apartments were ready for occupancy:

(photos: Phillip Pessar)

(photos: provided by developer)

 

 

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anonymous
27 days ago

I live in the area and you can see the influx of people moving in. A couple years ago Merrick Park mall was dead. Now it is constantly busy. However, i think its wild you’d pay $2600 for 500 square feet

Miami Winning
27 days ago

It’s refreshing to see more walkable transit oriented developments with access to Brickell and Downtown via the metro line.

anon
26 days ago

this building is 17 minute indirect walk across a highway with no shade to the metro station. stations are supposed to be every half a mile for a reason, there should be one at mcdonald street between coconut and douglas.

Ameht
25 days ago

Yea but when you’re packed in em like a sardine can shit isn’t refreshing

Underline Expansion Development
27 days ago

When the Underline expansion is complete you can even ride a bike or jog on a landscaped art-filled separate path away from car!

Erica
26 days ago

So excited for that!

ParkingHater
27 days ago

Not just Merrick, noticeable how many people take the coral gables trolley.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Maybe we can get some double decker trolleys instead of busses.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Maybe a streetcar from Coral Gables along Coral Way to Brickell, as there was prior to WWII?

Anonymous
27 days ago

With a loop to Calle Ocho Little Havana and Riverside

Miami Brando New
27 days ago

Now that’s a streetcar I desire.

Jordan
27 days ago

Why not?
It is better than paying $2,200 + a $380 monthly car payment + a $200 monthly car insurance payment + $100 monthly in gasoline + $50 per month maintenance reserve + $120 per month parking at the office + hassle.

Doesn’t seem that wild to me.
It seems sensible.

Anonymous
27 days ago

1) pay cash for a car–no payment
2) pay insurance up front and save 10%
3) stop getting tickets as $2400/yr auto ins. is absolutely insane
4) who pays $120/mo to park in Miami? shop around

Anonymous
27 days ago

Any decent auto insurance is $200-300 per month. Who has all cash to put down on a car, and if they do why would they skimp on insurance, and shop around for parking?

Anonymous
26 days ago

^^how do you think they got cash to pay for a car? By being frivolous???

And no, $3600/mo car ins. is terrible—must have a DUI or a couple at fault accidents to be paying that. Or you’re insuring something like a new $80k Lexus SUV. Should’ve paid cash for a used Corolla instead.

Anonymous
27 days ago

If you think living in a place like this allows you to live in Miami without a car, you delusional and unrealistic!

Anonymous
26 days ago

How else will these suckers be able to pay $2600+ rent on a studio across from public housing LOL! They can’t afford a car after paying that. The car will get ripped off there anyhow. Never mind that $2600/mo could put them into owning a $350K 1 bedroom condo in a great area. They’re their own worst enemies with their life choices.

Anonymous
25 days ago

I love how y’all pretend the process to buy a house is a seamless as renting an apartment. It costs way more than a 1-2 month deposit to purchase.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Car free is the future but we need top-notch public transportation for that. Not buses but a subway system either under or above ground and something that expands to the entire Miami and Miami Beach.

Anon
27 days ago

It’s also the past, ironically enough.

Jordan
27 days ago

These people long for the days before cars, where horse dung clogged the drainage systems, ailing people couldn’t get galloped to the hospital fast enough to live and the average lifespan of an adult was 63 years old.

Ohhh…..let’s get back to they days with “cars off the streets”.

L.J.
27 days ago

You sound like someone who’s never visited a world city and can’t understand sustainable urban design. Take a trip to NYC, Chicago, Berlin, Paris, or London and then re-read what you wrote to understand how ridiculous it sounds.

Anonymous
26 days ago

^you sound like someone who doesn’t understand economic development. Take a job – any job – for a month and see which gets you there quicker—public transit or a car.

Juan
27 days ago

Dude what? They just want more public space and less pollution. This is like thinking we still need steam combustion locomotives for menial tasks, some things just go away because they aren’t needed as much anymore.

Anonymous
26 days ago

I think some people may have come here from places where people rode on horse carriages, and see high rises/ways as progress. Others came from places with too many high rises/ways, and see progress as greener clean spaces.There’s a happy middle ground for development and sustainable quality of life in the same City. That is progress to me.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

Buses are great, actually

Anon
27 days ago

Busses are more expensive in the long run because of maintenance. Also, busses will always just be pretend rail.

Melo, a true Giga Chad
27 days ago

How come when I mention a subway system, I get roasted? But this guy gets applauded lol. I’ve been saying subway under Biscayne blvd from design district all the way to UM, with a central station in front of FTX arena beside the freedom tower. With potential for expansion…

Not Anonymous
27 days ago

Because he said above or underground. It is impossible to build a subway because of the water table, unless you want to spend enough money to grade separate the entire Brightline on a tunnel that will constantly have water intrude during drilling when an overpass would cost billions of dollars less.

Miaminnovate
26 days ago

What about a ground level soundproof clear hypertube?

Anonymous
26 days ago

^^what about the costs per mile of that?

Melo, a true giga chad
26 days ago

did you just hear what you just said? “because he said above or underground” And how is a subway system not underground??

Anonymous
24 days ago

You didn’t give above ground as an option…

Anonymous
27 days ago

great to hear about this type of response to a project connected to transit…it saves the residents alot of money and aggravation by not driving in miami

ParkingHater
27 days ago

This, AAA pegs monthly car ownership at about 850$. Imagine how much more wiggle room someone would have without needing to pay that? Enough to consider paying a bit more for rent in a quality TOD development

Anonymous
27 days ago

I think it’s more around $1000 with car insurance and gas, all could be used to support the local economy in Miami with better quality development projects and consumer space.

Jordan
27 days ago

Or the savings could be used to save….so that the young people can buy a house when they are in their 30’s instead of whining about “unaffordable” housing.

VERY novel idea….

Anonymous
26 days ago

This! This is the model my partner and I followed and we are now considering purchasing our 2nd property in our 30’s.

Anonymous
25 days ago

This key to the plan was living in a place with transit connectivity so they wouldn’t have to own a car…

Anonymous
27 days ago

Pay cash for a cheap used car and for $2600/mo –christ find a place to buy instead.

Or, just keep living check to check forever.

Anonymous
27 days ago

It’s not that easy. When you’re young you need to be in the mix to meet people and build business. 2,600 a month is a deal to have your own space in the City! Buying a house anywhere close probably would cost 5-6k a month.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Not true at all about the cost of a home. We bought last year in Edgewater and are paying less on our mortgage than our rent in Brickell. It’s all about priorities. Some people just like to blow their money and don’t know how to save.

Anonymous
26 days ago

building your life around kissing ass comes with a big price young grasshopper

Anonymous
27 days ago

Why do you think the person renting has cash to buy a car? They probably don’t have the cash for a home down payment yet.

Anonymous
26 days ago

If you don’t have $8K for a decent used car, then forget homeownership.
I know, your buddies all take loans on $40K SUVs and spend $300/week eating out and drinking, how can you possibly save money? That’s for rich people.

Anonymous
27 days ago

I’d call this a “glue” project as it connects residents to a variety of Transportation modes as well as grocery to minimize car use – an incremental win to chip away at our car centric city…

Jordan
27 days ago

Clever!
Glue.

You can watch the cars disappearing by the dozens.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Perfect example of how to successfully develop around Miamis metro mover and rail. People prefer not to drive and want a walkable Miami lifestyle.

Anonymous
27 days ago

I don’t agree with that. Most people are lazy AF.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Maybe in Tallahassee or other parts of Florida, but not a Miami. People are here to move!

Anonymous
27 days ago

^^yeah sure newbie

ParkingHater
27 days ago

Even if he’s new, his or anyone else’s opinion is just as valid as well as anybodys.

Anonymous
27 days ago

I’m not “new,” and I’ve spent time in Tallahassee.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Let me guess, screaming at the capitol over some law that doesn’t affect you, meanwhile most of Tallahassee is a college town right up your alley?

Anonymous
27 days ago

The article is actually telling you your assumption is wrong. Look at downtown, for years, I heard you need a car. Several parking less buildings later and we still here the same nonsense.

Anon
27 days ago

That’s because developers are over incentivized to build denser development outside the metro-rich areas like in the Everglades or Edgewater, instead of along the metro lines. People who live in downtown and Brickell walk most of the time.

Jordan
27 days ago

You “heard”.
Yes, a lot of people SAY you need a car. I didn’t. not in the 1990’s, not in the 2000’s. Young people rarely NEED a car.

With a child, there is a stronger case for “needing” a car. you don’t want a skank Taxi cab without a car seat if you need a 3am trip to the Emergency Room when the kids fever is over 105.

Jordan
27 days ago

MOST is the operative word.
I agree.

MOST want someone else to pay for their transportation, they want someone else to pay for their student loan debt, they want someone else to pay for their housing.

They don’t work hard at a meaningful job, but they get in a nightly spinning class and some reps in the gym and they think that they are a “hard worker”.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Can we add a fee to our transit system to make critical improvements? It would cost us less than the $40 Uber ride. People don’t care if I there is a reasonable fee, as long as it gets us places and has modern climate-controlled stations. There can be a progressive tax so people who truly need free transportation can be subsidized (we are subsidizing everyone with a completely free system.)

Marco
27 days ago

Very true! Car-free lifestyle is great. Personally I don’t have a car anymore (for the last 10 years) and I love my life in Miami. Thank you Uber & Lyft. Now, to be totally honest, it would be amazing to get more public transportation and not just talking about that. Wake up Miami, stop focusing only on big buildings trying to look like NYC. We are more people everyday so we urgently need more options to move around the city. Easy like a pie. 😉

Anon
27 days ago

I dream of a car-free life in Miami. Sitting on the metro listening to music as I take it to the beach. Having a beach day then taking it home and watching the sun set behind Miami as I take in the skyline, for the first time being able to fully enjoy it and not concentrate on the road. One day I hope….

Anon1
26 days ago

Haha, I actually live sorta like this in NYC. I take the A train every day to Manhattan from the Rockaways in Queens. I’m in a highrise development called Arverne which is right next to Rockaway Beach so I get a nice view of the Atlantic Ocean and the elevated train which looks so majestic at night. It would be cool if Miami had their own version of this.

Erica
26 days ago

There’s a lot of us here manifesting that!

Melo, the true giga chad
27 days ago

We need a stronger eminent domain system when it comes to land near transit. Detached single family homes should not be allowed within 1000ft radius of a metro station

Name*
27 days ago

Back in the 70s they tried to stop the transit from being next to them.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Starting to see those single family homes along the Underline being replaced with three or four floor row houses with ground floor retail facing the underline. Imagine if it’s all redeveloped. It will be a huge pedestrian-only promenade with continuous ground floor restaurants offices and retail like you’d see in Greenwich Village.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Rowhouses don’t have ground-floor retail, and some of the single-family homes along the underline are the most beautiful in the city.

Anonymous
27 days ago

You’re right. Row house is the wrong description.

Preserve the nice blocks of homes nearby. For the Underline, more like this around the Underline:

comment image

comment image

Anonymous
27 days ago

People could live above and setup mom and pop local own and run shops below.

ParkingHater
26 days ago

Works great on japan

Anonymous
27 days ago

Dream vision for a VISCAYA transit-oriented neighborhood 2033

ParkingHater
26 days ago

Check out coral gables, Anderson and biltmore ish. Great examples. Mayor/basically anyone on the commission will laugh at your whenever you try and talk about it.

Anonymous
27 days ago

A lot of them seem run down… maybe nice ones could be bed and breakfast inns or restaurants.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

The county has a big role in this too with their old buildings, that ugly water and sewer office building needs to be replaced

Anonymous
27 days ago

One day the mayor of West Palm had enough with the piecemeal BS development and crazy hold outs we have in Brickell and Downtown, she acquired a huge parcel downtown West Palm via eminent domain and turned it into the thriving community space it is today.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/lifestyle/2017/10/19/photos-remember-when-cityplace-area-was-war-zone-of-crime-crack/4909837007/

Anonymous
27 days ago

“By the early 1990s, with a strong push by then-West Palm Mayor Nancy Graham, the city consolidated the properties, took others by eminent domain, fended off lawsuits and appeals that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and entertained proposals to redevelop the area.”

“A group led by developer Ken Himmel and current Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, won, and the $550 million CityPlace opened 17 years ago on October 27, 2000.”

Can we use Eminent Domain in Miami? It seemed to work well for Mayor Graham and Related Companies, and West Palm has never been better!

Melo, a true giga chad
26 days ago

thanks for that, i will look into it. Miami should definitely do something like that, especially in areas around Brownsville and MLK stations. It can only help their communities with more money influx

Anonymous
27 days ago

The one on Douglas?? It was built just a few years ago 😂 The one on LeJeune was recently renovated.

Send WASD a check to build a new HQ to your liking.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Just like the airport that everyone loves?

Anonymous
26 days ago

^yeah just like that, so NO it isn’t getting replaced anytime soon. Buildings don’t get replaced because some fruitcake doesn’t like the way they look.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Love that they’re also improving the quality of the actual Metrorail station. The outdated and brutalist design, lack of air conditioning, and poor lighting doesn’t invite people to use transit. It’s not the developer’s responsibility, but hopefully more stations get renovated.

Anonymous
27 days ago

The lack of functionality is what holds people back from using Metrorail—it doesn’t go nearly enough places. Better to spend any money on rail extension, not on making the stations pretty. If station decor were the deciding factor for whether people will use transit, the NYC’s subways would be empty.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Correct, it drops people off near amazing destinations, but the areas around the stops are underutilized, even in Brickell. Build up and beautify those metro areas!

ParkingHater
27 days ago

Because people are scared of transferring to a bus! Seriously it’s not that bad

Anon
27 days ago

Busses are a hard no. We’re trying to move away from roads to rail, thanks.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Okay, so next time a private monorail is proposed, don’t go crying here about having to transfer.

Anonymous
27 days ago

I agree, but the need for extensions doesn’t negate the fact that the existing stations are dark, humid, and ugly. My point wasn’t that money should be spent on “making them pretty” instead of extensions. The county had like 30 years to expand and look where we are today. Least they could do is slap on some new tile, paint, and lights.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Ageee we need better lighting and extensions. You can’t even transfer from the Metro Line to the Metro Moved in Brickell without going up and down… this could easily be redone!!

New Metro Stations on Existing Lines!
27 days ago

I bet more people would ride the metro mover and metro line if it was indoors with A/C and well lit spaces like the Brightline. We could even build out kiosks for fast food and elevated convenient dining solutions INSIDE our terminals, and run them into new modern office buildings.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Too bad these towers are hideous and will age poorly, if not already.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

I’m gonna cream my pants. People this is why I scream about parking, carrot and sticks! And this area will only get better once the underline starts phase 3

Anonymous
27 days ago

Lol! I remember when Coral Gables tried to stop this project. This is what’s probably going to bring back all the happy hour business along Miracle Mile that has not been the same since before COVID.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

They did win something, they stopped zoning preemptions around RTZ corridors from effecting SFH. Anything above that is getting upzoned

Anon
27 days ago

That building has a lottttt of blank stucco facade.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Not to mention a that silly “stair” effect attempting to distract from the fact it’s another cereal box.

Anonymous
27 days ago

And yet we still force developers to build parking around transit. End parking minimums ASAP!

Anonymous
27 days ago

Why are there lots and lots of parking under our highways?! Those need to be parks! This is wasted land and parking spots are sketchy and crime magnets!

Name*
27 days ago

Tyson’s Corners.

Anonymous
27 days ago

It only took a few hours of Miami traffic to help them make that decision lol

BB1
27 days ago

It’d be nice to have a Milam’s downtown. We have a Whole Foods in one corner, and a Publix in the other. Would be nice to have something else in the middle.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

a Milams anywhere along the line is great, let’s anyone have access to a great groccer.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Millam’s proves there is an appetite in Miami for something in between Whole Foods Market and Sedanos, and notwithstanding Publix.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Milam’s Market downtown, please. Maybe in the place of that crappy CVS under Marinablue or space at the bottom of 501 First?

Anonymous
27 days ago

CVS>Milam’s

ParkingHater
26 days ago

Wrong! Competition is good, we want everything 😎

Anonymous
26 days ago

^^maybe you can bike to your new job stocking shelves at Milam’s

Anonymous but Famous
27 days ago

The missing pieces in all this? Let’s have a trolley connecting this station to Downtown Coconut Grove, much as happens toward Flagler. That strip is begging for redevelopment. Even more important, let’s triple the 40 route and in the rush hours, have private minibuses link nonstop to parking west of the Palmetto, at the woefully underused Tropical Park.

Azarius
27 days ago

They can’t afford a car living there smh 2600 for 510sqft

Anonymous
27 days ago

Same with Brickell, Downtown and Overtown, etc. all along Miami’s lifted transportation rails.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Having a car isn’t the flex you think it is.

Azarius
27 days ago

It is when living in the disconnection of Miami everything is spread out and I don’t like to be force to always deal with the “public” or volatile Uber/Lyft prices it’s wild out there

ParkingHater
27 days ago

Take a bus

Anonymous
27 days ago

The new high rise areas are not as spread out as you think. It’s not your Golden Girl’s pre-Brickell Miami. You can get everywhere by foot or bike.

Anon
27 days ago

Shut up brokie. A car is a flex. A bigger flex would be owning a car but not choosing to use it. This is America, owning a car gives you the freedom of movement.

Stupid Comment Warrior
27 days ago

Owning a car gives you freedom? Seriously? What is this, a 1950’s Sears catalog advertisement?

Anonymous
27 days ago

^^Taking a train gives you freedom? Seriously? What is this, a public transit advertisement?

***that was low hanging fruit

Azarius
27 days ago

Everything isn’t about cost. I like to move on my own time and a car gives me that freedom, nothing against public transit. It’s just not for MY lifestyle! Y’all clearly have a lot of time on your hands

ParkingHater
27 days ago

You are totally right!

For some people the time saved is worth it. But when systems are built to only support car ownership, and not alternatives, that decision is being made for them.

Turns car ownership into a defacto tax

Anon
27 days ago

Sure, like when you are stuck in traffic later for an event, or realize you can’t have a drink because you’re driving home after the cocktail reception.

Anonymous
27 days ago

on no! no cocktail reception drinks!!! and to think most are worried about getting to work on time and taking their kids to the doctor! But but but coctail reception drinks!

Anonymous
27 days ago

^^lots of time, and not much money

they “work from home” wink wink

Jordan
27 days ago

Truer words were never spoken.
It was great to have an SUV in Brickell and put about 9,000 miles per year on it …because it was only driven to the Crandon Park Golf course on Key Biscayne, N. Carolina mountains or to the Keys on road trips.

Not to flex, or impress anyone, but to know that you can do what you want, when you want, and however the hell you want is a nice luxury.

Anonymous
27 days ago

I rarely use the car anymore and prefer to go places connected by transit. Even Ubering in Miami is too expensive, around $50 one way Brickell to Midtown area? That seems unsustainable.

ParkingHater
27 days ago

You’re right, it is. Take the bus. $2.25. The 2, 9, and 10 all run though midtown. City of Miami has a free trolley route too

Azarius
27 days ago

Again the issue is time

Anon
27 days ago

With rail you can plan out your schedule and stick with it, do you know how many realtors are late to appointments “because of traffic”?

Anonymous
26 days ago

^not as many as workers who are late because Metrorail broke down

Pollo
27 days ago

Good news but that’s gonna be a lot of people for 1 station. Looking around on Google maps I don’t see much space around other stations for similar projects

Anonymous
27 days ago

There is ton of space around the Vizcaya, Brickell and downtown metrolines with knockdown buildings in need of master planned transit-oriented communities.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Vizcaya station is in between wealthy single family home neighborhoods

Anonymous
27 days ago

So what? If they don’t like the noise they can sell and move to a suburb. They clearly knew they would be living near a urban core and metro line. There are tons of wealthy brown towns in Manhattan. Some people would like a house near denser development. It’s common up north.

Anonymous
27 days ago

brownstones*

Anonymous
27 days ago

The neighborhood was there before Metrorail.

Anonymous
27 days ago

So was that house in Brickell where the guy is digging underneath the baseboard for artifacts.

Anon
27 days ago

Imagine if we said that when high rises were built near the Brickell mansions? There would be no Brickell.

ParkingHater
26 days ago

Your rights stop at the property line. beyond that is public land 😉

ParkingHater
27 days ago

The entire metro rail line is having its zoning preempted by the county, anything above single family detached. Developers will find the space, and we will be the better for it.

Anonymous
27 days ago

People have to be willing to sell. This isn’t the 1950s Robert Moses eminent domain abuse era.

Anonymous
27 days ago

Eminent Domain was used in WPB to transform the city. WPB has become a melting pot for diversity and progressive values, and lifted up the community. There probably would be no Brightline or no south Florida boom without this bold move. It transformed South Florida for the better. Nobody would go to WPB before the mayor and Related transformed a ghetto into thriving city. Read the history.

Anonymous
27 days ago

This wasn’t the 1950s. It was the 2000s when many of us were here.