Miami Corp. has long envisioned turning the land it owns in and near Edgewater into thousands of new homes and millions of square feet of commercial space.

Now the Chicago, Illinois-based company has added more adjoining acreage in hopes of enticing developers to turn its vision for that part of southeast Volusia County into reality.

The company closed its latest land purchase for $16 million on Aug. 27, spokesman Glenn Storch confirmed. The Daytona Beach attorney represented Miami Corp. in the transaction.

This site map shows the location of the Restoration development area located west of Interstate 95, mostly in Edgewater. The 6,281-acre site was sold for $16 million on Aug. 27, 2018, to Miami Corp., which is seeking to find developers to build up to 8,590 homes and 3.4 million square feet of commercial space.

    
“This represents an exceptional investment opportunity in a part of the county that is on the cusp of major development,” said Chris Butera, an agent with SVN Alliance Commercial Real Estate Advisors who was part of the team that represented the seller in the land sale to Miami Corp.

The seller was Colony Capital Inc., whose predecessor, Colony NorthStar, acquired the Edgewater development site known as Restoration in 2013.

The 6,281-acre Restoration site is west of I-95, immediately north of the two large land parcels Miami Corp. already owns in the immediate vicinity: the 59,000-acre Farmton and 900-acre Deering Park Center development sites.

The Farmton property in unincorporated county land, just south of Restoration, has entitlements from the county to accommodate up to 23,100 homes and 4.7 million square feet of commercial, office and industrial space.

The Deering Park Center property is within the city limits of Edgewater, comprising the southwest quadrant of the I-95/SR 422 interchange. The site has entitlements from the city for up to 1,362 homes and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space.

The Restoration site includes roughly 5,187 acres in Edgewater. The rest is in New Smyrna Beach.
The Edgewater portion of the property is entitled to accommodate up to 8,500 homes, 1.9 million square feet of office space and just under 1.4 million square feet of commercial development.
If fully built out, Miami Corp’s three development sites could potentially add nearly 33,000 homes and 9.5 million square feet of commercial space — more than eight times the size of Volusia Mall.

CITY SUPPORTS GROWTH PLANS

“The City of Edgewater is very enthusiastic about these two projects (Deering Park Center and Restoration) as they are both well-planned developments that include many of the goals set forth by the City,” said Samantha Bergeron, economic development coordinator for Edgewater.
Those goals, she said, include the creation of more jobs, the preservation of nature conservation areas, and the development of light industrial, commercial and retail space, as well as single-family homes and apartments and/or condominiums.

“The citizens of Edgewater have been very adament that they want the growth and they want the retail and restaurants here,” Bergeron said.

While Farmton is just outside its borders, Bergeron said the city would welcome the opportunity to annex it, although she added she is not aware of any such plans at this time.

The City Council “will entertain extending waiving the annexation fees at their next meeting,” she said.

Storch said his client jumped at the opportunity to acquire the Restoration development site to be able to “control and better manage it,” along with the Farmton and Deering Park Center sites.

Miami Corp has owned the Farmton property, which extends south into Brevard County since 1926. It added the Deering Park Center property, previously known as Reflections, a few years ago.
The company’s primary business historically has been growing and selling trees for lumber.

In recent years, Miami Corp has been looking to diversify by seeking to partner with developers to redevelop portions of its land to accommodate new homes and commercial businesses.
“The forestry business is basically going away in this area,” Storch said. “We’re not going to put all our chips in forestry anymore.”
Case in point: Miami Corp. in May announced plans to partner with Adams Ranch to form a new joint venture called Adams Ranch-Farmton LLC to raise cattle on portions of the Farmton tree farm property.

‘TIMING IS EVERYTHING’

Any future redevelopment of the Farmton, Deering Park Center and Restoration properties to accommodate homes and/or commercial uses most likely would be done in partnership with developers and homebuilders, Storch said.

“This is a 50-year project,” he added. “We don’t have to move too fast.”
Storch said he believes it’s just a matter of time before the I-95/SR 422 interchange starts attracting more interest from developers and homebuilders.

The fact that areas surrounding the I-95 interchanges elsewhere in the county are seeing a surge in residential and commercial development has not gone unnoticed by Miami Corp officials, Storch acknowledged.
Those new projects include the Holiday Inn Express and Florida Roadhouse restaurant planned near the I-95/State Road 44 interchange in New Smyrna Beach, just six miles north of Miami Corp’s properties next to the I-95/SR 422 interchange.

’You’re going to have a need for a grocery store, retail and restaurants along I-95 (in Edgewater),” Storch said. “But timing is everything. ... All we’re doing is helping plan for the future of Edgewater.”

422 EXTENSION SET TO START

To prepare for the anticipated development of its properties, Miami Corp. is proceeding with plans to extend State Road 422 a mile further to the west to the future entrance to its Deering Park Center community, Storch said.

That project is expected to get underway some time this month, he said.
The new section of SR 422 would be a four-lane road and would include landscaping to complement the existing landscaping on the east side of the I-95/SR 422 interchange, Bergeron said.

Bergeron said the City would welcome the new developments, which could greatly increase both Edgewater’s population, which currently numbers 22,399 residents, according to 2017 Census Bureau statistics, and number of householders, which currently number roughly 8,500 homes.

The City currently has just over 3.5 million square feet of developed commercial space.

WHAT IS MIAMI CORP?

Miami Corp is a family-run company formed in 1917 by descendents of William Deering, founder of the farm machinery maker now known as International Harvester. While based in Illinois, the company’s name was chosen because of the family’s love of the Miami, Florida, area. The company owns forestry and pastureland in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana and Oregon.