Black West Grove landmark to be replaced by market-rate housing
By Don Finefrock, Coconut Grove Spotlight
The developers behind the massive Bimini Block project on Grand Avenue are preparing to build another mixed-use development on the long-neglected corridor in the West Grove, on the site where Bain-Range Funeral Services once stood.
The Range Funeral Home was established in 1953 in Liberty City by Oscar L. and M. Athalie Range, one of Miami’s most prominent African American families, and expanded into Coconut Grove in partnership with the Bain family. Patrick Range, Athalie’s grandson, told Coconut Grove Spotlight that the funeral home closed after it fell into the hands of “development-minded” owners and deteriorated. The business is still running, just without a building of its own, he said.
The former funeral home at 3384 Grand Ave. was then torn down earlier this month to make way for a new five-story apartment building at Grand Avenue and Elizabeth Street, just west of the Coconut Grove Farmer’s Market.
The project is a partnership between two Coconut Grove developers, Grant Savage and Peter Gardner at Silver Bluff Development, and Abbhi Capital, a Miami investment firm.
The same partners went public in June with plans to build 176 rental apartments and 26,000 square feet of street-level shops and restaurants on 2.4 acres of vacant land known as the Bimini Block, on Grand Avenue between Plaza and Hibiscus Streets.
The new project – which the partners are calling Elemi Phase 2 – would be much smaller, with 27 market-rate rental apartments and 3,500 square feet of retail space. The project represents an investment of approximately $30 million, Savage said.
The apartment building will occupy the same block as the developers’ Elemi at Grove Village project. That project, which fronts on Thomas Avenue, is nearly complete with 46 residential units.
The two Elemi projects have a shared boundary on the interior of the block and will share amenities, including the pool and roof deck at the first building, Savage said.
Elemi Phase 2 will include retail space fronting on Grand Avenue and a residential entrance on Elizabeth Street, across the street from Billy Rolle Domino Park.
“We don’t have the tenants lined up yet but we are planning for food and beverage,” Savage said.
A building permit is pending. The developers hope to begin construction by the end of the year, with a completion date some time in 2026.
All three developments – the Bimini Block project and the two Elemi buildings – are Opportunity Zone projects, which provide certain tax benefits.
The developers purchased the land for Elemi Phase 2 for $4.4 million in 2021 and 2022 from B and B Grove Properties and Grove Grand LLC.
As with the other projects, the rental apartments at Elemi Phase 2 will be offered at market rate – a point of contention for West Grove community groups who say long-time residents in the historically Black neighborhood are being priced out.
Although it’s too soon to say how the 27 apartments will be priced, according to the Silver Bluff development team, Miami is one of the nation’s least affordable housing markets. In June of this year, the median price of a one-bedroom rental in Miami was $2,770, according to a Miami Metro report by national rental listing company Zumper.
The report did not provide a breakout for Coconut Grove, but Apartments.com recently cited rental rates of $2,535 to $2,901 for apartments above the Aldi’s grocery store at Platform 3750 on the corner of Douglas Road and South Dixie Highway.
Although Elemi Phase 2 does not include workforce or affordable housing – a priority for neighborhood residents given rental prices in Miami – Savage said he is working with other partners to finance a separate project in the West Grove that, if successful, would provide housing at below-market rates for local residents.
Savage declined to pinpoint the exact location of that project or describe the financing, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize the project’s chances of success. He also declined to say how much housing the project might deliver.
“Obviously, we want to maximize the number of units, but I don’t want to throw a number out there,” Savage said. “We are trying to build workforce and affordable housing. We are trying to do the right thing, and help the community in that regard.”
