Tula Residences Tops Out at 7918 West Drive in North Bay Village
Tula Residences has become the first of North Bay Village’s growing crop of residential high-rises under construction to reach the top. Developers Bayshore Grove Capital and Pacific & Orient Properties announced that the 21-story tower reached its full height at the start of October. When completed, Tula will also become the island city’s first new condominium in more than a decade. The milestone comes nearly a decade after Pacific & Orient first proposed the project. The company unveiled plans for the tower in 2017, but construction did not get underway until early 2023. Work stalled later that year, and the project’s original general contractor, Thornton Construction, ultimately left the job. Bayshore Grove Capital, led by Founder and CEO Vivian Dimond, later stepped in to revive the development. The firm secured financing in late 2024, including a recent $67 million construction loan from S3 Capital. A&R Development, which replaced Thornton as general contractor, has overseen the project through its topping out. According to Dimond, the topping out is important for both the development team and the community. “We have believed in the potential of this community from the beginning,” she said, describing Tula as an anchor for the neighborhood. With the structure now complete, Dimond said the building’s design and the lifestyle envisioned for residents are beginning to take shape. The project is also moving forward as North Bay Village enters a new wave of residential development. Tula is among several towers planned or under construction across the small island municipality, where new projects are beginning to change a skyline that has remained relatively low-rise for much of its history. Sales have also continued to build, which developers largely credit to their marketing team. Compass Development Marketing Group has joined Brown Harris Stevens as co-listing broker. Philip Freedman, Senior Managing Director of Sales, said buyers are increasingly looking for waterfront homes that offer privacy while remaining close to Miami and Miami Beach. With the tower now topped out, he said prospective buyers can get a clearer sense of the finished building and what will set Tula apart in the Miami condominium market. Tula will contain 54 luxury residences ranging from two to five bedrooms, with six penthouses occupying the upper three floors. Standard residences will range from roughly 1,590 to 2,440 square feet, while the penthouses will span about 3,700 to 4,140 square feet. Prices start below $2 million. Every residence will occupy a corner of the building, giving each unit views of Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. The amenity package will be spread across the building, with the sixth floor dedicated to much of the project’s wellness and social space. A resort-style pool will sit on a landscaped deck facing the bay and skyline, with lounges and private cabanas surrounding it. Inside, residents will have access to a 2,400-square-foot fitness center, a private dining room, and the Skyline Club Room for private events (among other amenities) Designed by M77R, the tower will feature a white stucco facade, floor-to-ceiling windows and glass balconies, with a covered podium containing 126 parking spaces. The project is expected to be completed in 2028, making Tula one of several new residential towers set to reshape North Bay Village’s skyline.
Carnegie Mellon University Plans Major Miami Campus Backed by Ken Griffin
West Palm Beach got Vanderbilt University. Now, Miami is getting Carnegie Mellon. Carnegie Mellon University is planning a 35-acre campus in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, backed by a $3 billion gift from billionaire Ken Griffin that the university says is the largest individual donation ever made to an institution of higher education. The project will bring thousands of students, hundreds of faculty and staff, and a major research institution to a neighborhood that is already being reshaped by new residential buildings, offices and infrastructure. Planned on the site of Mana Wynwood, Griffin bought the property for $1.1 billion in cash, after developer and land banker Moishe Mana spent years assembling the site. Mana has said the property was never for sale, but Griffin’s team reached out to him about the land, and the conversations eventually led to a deal that was widely considered the largest land assemblage in Florida history. The university plans to enroll its first students in 2028, with more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students, 300 faculty and 600 staff ultimately based at the campus. A groundbreaking is expected next year. Of the $3 billion gift, $2 billion will fund the Miami campus, while the remaining $1 billion will go to Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in Pittsburgh. What Carnegie Mellon plans to build on the site is intended to look different from a conventional university campus. The university says CMU Miami “will reimagine higher learning by inverting the traditional model,” organizing teaching and research around problems that cross traditional academic disciplines rather than separating students into isolated majors. Four areas will anchor the campus at launch: human health and biological discovery, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industry. Advanced computing will run through all four, with the university planning to combine it with fields including science, engineering, policy, business, design and the humanities. The degree-granting campus will initially focus on technology and innovation, according to Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian. While the university is particularly well known for its arts programs and its School of Drama, Jahanian said Miami will not offer arts programs at launch. For Griffin, the location is part of the appeal, calling Wynwood “a wonderful location for a college campus,” according to the Miami Herald, pointing to the neighborhood’s energy and young population. The university will arrive as Wynwood and surrounding parts of Miami continue to attract major development, including recent plans for even residential towers. Carnegie Mellon is also joining a broader wave of universities expanding into South Florida. Vanderbilt University recently announced plans for an expansion in West Palm Beach, following developer Related Ross’s investment in the city. Across the region, universities and other institutions have increasingly been drawn to South Florida as capital has poured into the state, encouraged in part by Florida’s business-friendly environment. That same migration brought Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel, from Chicago to Miami. Since moving his businesses and family office to South Florida, he has also become a major local philanthropist, with donations supporting projects including the Underline and the University of Miami. His $3 billion gift to Carnegie Mellon now adds a university campus to that list, and gives Wynwood a new institutional anchor as the neighborhood enters its next phase of development.