Since 2007, Mary Brickell Village has been one of the few low, open-air blocks in the middle of Brickell. Shops and restaurants sit along South Miami Avenue, with towers on every side. If you're comparing condos nearby, that block probably looks like a fixed feature of the view. On July 21, 2026, Miami-Dade County commissioners adopted an ordinance that changes who decides what can be built on its eastern half. Under its own text, it takes effect 10 days after enactment.
Under the old rules, the city capped that parcel at 48 stories. The new framework sets no fixed height limit at all. Before you choose a Brickell building, check which government controls the zoning on the lot across the street, and when the public hearing on that lot would take place.
Four Brickell addresses changed hands on paper
Ordinance No. 26-58, sponsored by Commissioner Vicki L. Lopez, expanded the Metromover Subzone of the county's Rapid Transit Zone to take in four private properties:
- 901 South Miami Avenue, the eastern parcel of Mary Brickell Village
- 1129 SW 3 Avenue
- 150 SW 7 Street
- 158 SW 7 Street
The Metromover Subzone dates to April 20, 2021, when the county created it with Ordinance No. 21-33 and took over land-use control of properties along the Metromover line. Inside the Rapid Transit Zone, the county code gives Miami-Dade authority over zoning approvals, site plans, building permits, inspections and certificates of occupancy, notwithstanding municipal rules, with some stated exceptions.
The original bill also included a site most Brickell residents would recognize. According to Miami Today, commissioners took the 11,000-square-foot Allen Morris Park out of the legislation before it passed. So the park stays under city zoning, and the four addresses above moved to the county.
How much the ceiling moved at Mary Brickell Village
Kimco Realty acquired Mary Brickell Village in 2024, when it bought RPT Realty. Floridian Development reported that Kimco is the party that filed to bring the eastern parcel, roughly 1.1 acres, into the subzone. The same outlet compared what the parcel could hold before and after the change:
| Rule | City of Miami zoning, T6-48b-O | County Metromover Subzone |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Up to 48 stories | No set height limit |
| Density | 150 dwelling units per acre | No floor area ratio limit |
| Parking | City requirements apply | No minimum parking requirement |
| Who approves | City of Miami | Miami-Dade County |
Floridian Development wrote that, in theory, the parcel could now hold "a very large mixed-use development, including a supertall." It also quoted Kimco's own description of Mary Brickell Village as having "tremendous untapped potential for future density." The county gives its reasoning in the ordinance: more density and transit-oriented development next to the existing rail system should raise ridership.
The zoning change does nothing on its own, and that's the opening for buyers
For buyers, the most useful detail is in the county code. Section 33C-5(B) says that "until a special exception or other zoning approval for development is approved," land in the transit zone stays under the municipal zoning it had before it was added. That language is quoted in a 2024 county staff report. Today, the eastern half of Mary Brickell Village still operates under its old city rules. The higher ceiling only applies once a specific project wins approval.
That same staff report lays out the two steps a project goes through.
- Initial Review: The Board of County Commissioners holds a public hearing and decides the application "equivalent to a rezoning."
- Final Review: The Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources reviews the site plan administratively at a later date.
The public hearing comes in the first step. The second step happens at a staff level. For a condo owner, or a buyer about to become one, the Initial Review hearing at the County Commission is the one public meeting where a new tower's size gets set. Section 33C-15 of the county code also adopts the Government Center Subzone's review procedures and standards for the Metromover Subzone, so those standards shape what the commission is looking at.
What has already come through that hearing in Brickell
Earlier Brickell projects that went through the Metromover Subzone show what tends to come out of that hearing.
| Project | Approval | What was approved |
|---|---|---|
| 128 SW 7 Street | Resolution Z-37-24, June 20, 2024 | 39 stories and 517 units, with conditions, plus a $500,000 transit-station contribution the applicant volunteered |
| Summit Brickell, 1015 SW First Avenue | October 2024 | 65 stories and 505 residences, 25 of them workforce units, with $575,000 in transit and pedestrian contributions |
| 1414 and 1428 Brickell Avenue, 1421 S Miami Avenue | Case Z-10-26, June 18, 2026 | Zoning approval granted |
Miami Today reported that commissioners approved Summit Brickell unanimously and that nobody protested at the hearing. Before the county added 128 SW 7 Street to the subzone in 2023, it was under City of Miami zoning. Floridian Development also lists Citadel's planned headquarters at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive among the major projects using this framework.
These projects follow a pattern. Each one started as a parcel added by ordinance. Then the owner filed an application, went through one commission hearing, and walked out with a tower far larger than what stood on the lot before. Mary Brickell Village and the three addresses added beside it have finished the first step. Floridian Development's September 28, 2026 report said no tower had been announced for the Mary Brickell Village parcel.
The map is still growing
The county kept adding parcels after July. On October 6, 2026, commissioners adopted Ordinance 26-82, which brought 407 NE 17 Terrace and 1771, 1783 and 1795 NE 4 Avenue into the Metromover Subzone. At the same October 6 meeting, the full board deferred File 261250 with no date set. That file would add 66 SW 6 Street, 625 SW 1 Avenue and 54 SW 6th Street, and the Transportation Committee had recommended it favorably on September 9.
A second rule covers parcels as they enter the zone. Ordinance 26-47, adopted June 2, 2026, says that when an ordinance brings a property into the Rapid Transit Zone, any Live Local covenant on that property has to be disclosed and attached.
The City of Miami has disputed county control over these zones. The Miami Herald reported in August 2025 that the city had sued the county over its use of transit zones, arguing that they usurp local control of zoning. The paper said mediation had failed and talks on a compromise were still going. The city adopted its own transit-station zoning framework on July 24, 2025. As of this fall, parcels added by county ordinance, Mary Brickell Village included, fall under the county's process.
Checking the block before you make an offer
In Brickell, a condo with a clear view across a low-rise parcel is really a bet on that parcel's zoning. Here's how to look at it:
- Find out who controls the zoning on the lots around the building. The adopted Ordinance 26-58 includes the revised Exhibit 22(B) map of the Metromover Subzone in the Clerk's official copy.
- Check whether a neighboring parcel has been added but not yet approved. Mary Brickell Village is in that stage now. Its old city zoning still applies, and a future application would go to a County Commission hearing.
- Look up pending files as well as adopted ones. File 261250 is on the county's legislative site, so you can see a deferred item before it comes back to the board.
- Read the approval and the conditions together. Approvals for 128 SW 7 Street and Summit Brickell came with transit and pedestrian contributions attached, and those terms are part of the public record for each approval.
This post is general information about public zoning records. It isn't legal advice. A land-use attorney can confirm how these rules apply to a specific property.
Quick answers
Is a tower planned for Mary Brickell Village? Floridian Development reported on September 28, 2026 that no tower plans had been announced. The zoning change creates the possibility of one but doesn't approve it.
Is Allen Morris Park in the county zone? No. Commissioners removed it from the legislation before Ordinance 26-58 passed.
Does a project in the subzone get a public hearing? Yes, at the Initial Review step, which goes before the Board of County Commissioners. The later Final Review is an administrative site-plan review.
Does this only affect Brickell? No. The subzone follows the Metromover line, and the October 2026 expansion added parcels on NE 4 Avenue and NE 17 Terrace.
If you're weighing a Brickell condo and want to know which nearby parcels are under county zoning and what's pending before the commission, Christopher Ulloa can go through the block with you before you make an offer, in English or Spanish. Let's connect and find your Miami condo or development opportunity.
