UDRB approves 'Little River' Live Local project with conditions on lighting, garage massing and street trees

The Urban Development Review Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of a Live Local Act project known as "Little River," a 22‑story mixed residential and commercial development at 7501 and 7553 Northeast Second Avenue that would deliver about 350 units, including 140 income‑restricted units.

The board attached three conditions intended to improve the project's public realm and reduce the visual impact of large parking volumes: enhanced exterior architectural lighting; breaking up the massing of the parking garage on the south elevation; and substituting shade trees for palm trees where practicable to increase sidewalk canopy.

Why it matters: The Live Local Act is intended to advance workforce housing near transit; this application assembles most of a full city block and proposes substantial on‑site retail and a large courtyard. The board’s conditions focus on pedestrian experience, nighttime presence and the visual treatment of a multi‑level parking façade that faces residential and neighborhood areas.

Project details and waivers: The applicant described an assembled block with two folios and about 500,000 square feet of building area. The scheme includes approximately 350 residential units, of which 140 are income‑restricted under the Live Local program, roughly 143,000 square feet of commercial space and 406 parking spaces. The application requested multiple exceptions/waivers, among them: - an exception to exceed the 40,000‑square‑foot maximum lot size in the zoning district; - a waiver to permit parking above the first story to extend into the second layer along primary and secondary frontages; - a waiver to allow up to a 30% reduction in required parking for development within a transit corridor; and - waivers related to curb/driveway separations and pedestrian entrance spacing.

Design and context: Architect Albert Cordovis (Coral World Architects) described a U‑shaped building that encloses a roughly 6,000‑square‑foot central courtyard and emphasizes active ground‑floor uses and a major retail anchor on the southwest corner. The team proposed a perforated metal mesh screen for parking facades, an exoskeletal grid to recall the area’s light‑industrial origins, and roof‑deck amenity spaces positioned to benefit southern and city views.

Board direction and conditions: Members praised the project’s reuse of frontages and the courtyard amenity but asked for refinements to the parking elevation, exterior lighting, and tree canopy. The final motion approved the project with conditions requiring: 1) enhanced exterior architectural lighting to articulate the facade at night; 2) design changes to break up the massing of the metal parking cube on the south elevation so it reads at a smaller pedestrian scale; and 3) substitution of deciduous/shade trees for standard palms where feasible to create more pedestrian canopy.

Votes and next steps: The motion to approve with the stated conditions passed by roll call 4‑0. Staff will incorporate the board’s conditions into the record and the team will revise facade and lighting details for administrative review and for the subsequent HEP (historic/environmental review) submission as applicable.

Ending: The applicant left with clear direction to refine the south elevation and the nighttime lighting package, and to carry street‑tree changes into final landscape plans.