North Miami Beach just approved Blue Road and Ilia's density bump to 374 units. Here's the full breakdown of The William — a 26-story rooftop-pickleball tower starting at $380K.
Key Takeaways
- The William received city approval on June 23 to bump density from 344 to 374 residences, eliminating planned hotel rooms.
- 26 stories designed by Carlos Ott, Behar Font & Partners, and Urban Robot; construction starts mid-2026, delivery 2029.
- Pricing from approximately $380,000 (studios) to over $1 million — the cheapest serious branded-quality entry in greater Miami right now.
While Brickell and Edgewater absorb all the new-development attention in Miami, the most economically interesting groundbreaking of summer 2026 is happening 18 miles north. On June 23, 2026, the North Miami Beach City Commission approved Blue Road and Ilia Development Group's request to bump The William Residences from 344 units to 374, removing 30 planned hotel rooms in the process. Construction starts mid-2026. Delivery is 2029.
That density bump matters more than it sounds. It signals municipal commitment, locks in financing assumptions, and reorients the project from a mixed-use hotel-condo to a fully residential tower — which substantially improves the economics for individual condo buyers.
If you missed The William in the broader new-development noise, this is the breakdown. At $380,000 entry pricing, it is currently the most accessible entry point into branded-quality South Florida new-construction. That alone makes it worth looking at.
The Project at a Glance
Project: The William Residences Address: 2040 NE 163rd Street, North Miami Beach, FL 33162 Developer: Blue Road and Ilia Development Group Architect: Carlos Ott (concept design) and Behar Font & Partners (executive architect) Interior Designer: Urban Robot Floors: 26 stories Total Residences: 374 (just approved up from 344) Unit Sizes: Approximately 550–1,410 SF Layouts: Studios, 1BR, 2BR, 3BR Pricing (as of June 2026): Approximately $380,000 to $1,000,000+ Retail: 4,500 SF ground-floor retail Parking: 448 spaces Construction Start: Mid-2026 Delivery: 2029 (approximately three-year construction timeline) Status: Density bump approved by NMB City Commission June 23, 2026
What Just Happened — and Why It Matters
The city's approval to swap 30 hotel rooms for 30 additional residences is the kind of regulatory move that quietly changes a project's economic profile. Three implications:
1. Better resale and investor mechanics. Mixed-use towers with hotel rooms create lifestyle and operational conflict — hotel guests in the lobby, hotel housekeeping in service elevators, hotel demand for the pool deck. Going fully residential cleans the building's identity and improves the long-term resale story.
2. The HOA math gets simpler. A pure-residential building eliminates the complex shared-amenity expense reconciliation that condo-hotels require. Owners pay for the building they actually live in.
3. The developer is signaling commitment. Density bumps aren't free — they require public hearings, traffic studies, and additional impact fees. Blue Road and Ilia paid for the change because they have buyer demand to fill the units. That's a positive signal for current and future buyers.
Why the Carlos Ott Pedigree Matters
Carlos Ott is one of South America's most accomplished architects — the Uruguayan responsible for the Opera Bastille in Paris, the National Bank of Dubai, and several signature Miami towers. He doesn't take North Miami Beach commissions unless he sees the building as a marquee project. His presence on the concept design alone is a positioning statement for North Miami Beach itself — a submarket trying to graduate from secondary status into Miami's serious-luxury map.
Behar Font & Partners (Coral Gables) and Urban Robot (Miami Beach) round out the design team. The combination delivers a serious architectural product at a price point that has historically been Class B.
What's Driving North Miami Beach Right Now
If you haven't watched North Miami Beach in five years, you're missing one of the most under-the-radar transformation stories in South Florida real estate. Three forces are reshaping the submarket:
- 1Aventura spillover. Aventura is fully built and fully priced. Buyers priced out of Aventura's $700/SF entry have been migrating south into NMB looking for the same lifestyle at half the basis. The William sits in the migration zone.
- 1The Uptown Harbour assemblage. Multiple developers have been buying assemblage land along Biscayne Boulevard and 163rd Street for the last 36 months. The William is one piece of a broader 6-million-square-foot pipeline of new mixed-use and residential development that will reshape the corridor by 2030.
- 1Infrastructure and beach access. NMB sits closer to Sunny Isles' beaches than most buyers realize. Five minutes east and you're on the Atlantic.
This is the urban transformation moment NMB has been promising for a decade. The William catches it at the front end.
- Miami Market Snapshot — June 2026:
- Miami-Dade median sale price: $575,000 (96 days avg market time vs 86 a year ago)
- Active inventory: 12,338 units (multi-year high; +97% YoY)
- 46% of U.S. sellers paid concessions in May per Redfin
- Greater Miami new-construction entry points: The William sits at approximately $380K — among the lowest entry prices for branded-quality new-construction product in the metro
Inside the Amenities
Two distinct amenity decks plus a signature rooftop:
- Resort-style swimming pool with sun shelf and cabanas
- Fitness studio and dedicated yoga studio
- Coworking lounges for residents working from home
- Children's play areas — meaningful for the family submarket NMB has been attracting
- Rooftop retreat with two regulation pickleball courts and sunset views
The rooftop pickleball is the signature lifestyle hook. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America with a particularly strong adoption curve among Florida residents 40–65. Building two regulation courts on top of a residential tower is a small but well-targeted programming bet.
The Investment Math
Running rough numbers on a 1BR around 700 SF priced at approximately $475K:
- Down payment (20%): $95,000
- Loan (80%, 30-year fixed at 6.875%): approximately $2,495/month
- Property taxes (Miami-Dade): ~$530/month
- HOA (estimated): ~$680/month
- Insurance: ~$165/month
- Total monthly carry: approximately $3,870
Long-term rental income at this unit size and location in 2029 (assuming a stabilized $2,950/month lease): a leveraged buyer carries roughly $920/month while building equity through amortization and capturing what should be material appreciation between contract and delivery.
The pre-construction deposit structure is also more accessible than higher-end branded towers. Typical schedules at this price point require 10%–15% at contract, 10% at groundbreaking, 10% at top-off, and balance at closing — a 30%–35% deposit obligation spread over roughly three years. (My piece on how to buy pre-construction in Miami walks through deposit timing and risk.)
Who This Building Is Right For
1. The first-time Miami buyer who can't crack Brickell pricing. The William at $380K–$475K entry is the most realistic new-construction starting point in greater Miami right now.
2. The Aventura-priced-out family. A 2BR/3BR unit in The William delivers Aventura lifestyle at a NMB price point. The pickleball deck, fitness amenities, and kid play areas are explicit family programming.
3. The long-horizon investor playing the NMB transformation thesis. If you believe 163rd Street and Biscayne Boulevard look like Brickell did in 2008 — pre-transformation — you buy in this 2026 vintage of new construction and hold for the next 7–10 years of cycle.
Less ideal for: trophy-address seekers (NMB is not a luxury address), short-term-rental investors (the building is fully residential, not a condo-hotel), and buyers prioritizing immediate equity (a 2029 delivery means three years of deposit dollar-cost-averaging before you take possession).
Why Now
Three reasons to engage with The William now rather than 12 months from now:
- 1The just-approved density bump means current contracts get the same pricing as pre-bump. That economic improvement accrues to current buyers, not future ones.
- 1Construction-start pricing is typically the cheapest pricing of any project's life. Once shovels are in the ground and the first vertical floor stands, sales-gallery prices climb. Today is closer to the bottom of the pricing curve than the top.
- 1NMB's broader transformation story has 36–48 months before it fully prices in. Buying before that repricing is the move.
View The William project on my website where pricing and availability will be updated as construction begins: carloscabalerealtor.com (the project page is being added to the new-development directory this week).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When does construction start at The William North Miami Beach? A: Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2026 following the June 23 city approval for the density bump. The expected construction timeline is approximately three years, with delivery anticipated in 2029.
Q: How does The William's $380K entry price compare to other Miami new construction? A: It's currently among the lowest entry prices for branded-quality new construction in greater Miami. Most Brickell, Edgewater, and Downtown branded buildings start at $600K–$1M+ for entry studios. NMB's positioning and the project's deliberate small-unit format make The William's entry pricing roughly 35%–50% lower than Brickell-adjacent comparables.
Q: Are short-term rentals allowed at The William? A: The project just removed all hotel rooms and is being delivered as a fully residential condominium. Short-term rentals will depend on the final HOA documents and the City of North Miami Beach's short-term rental zoning — which is more restrictive than Miami Beach or unincorporated Miami-Dade. Plan for 6-month minimum leases as the safest assumption until the HOA documents are finalized.
Q: What deposit schedule should I expect for The William? A: Typical pre-construction deposit structures at this price point require approximately 10%–15% at contract, 10% at groundbreaking, 10% at topping-off, and the balance at closing — totaling roughly 30%–35% paid over the three-year construction period before the final mortgage at delivery. Exact terms vary by unit and incentive package; confirm directly with the sales gallery.
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Partnership Realty / Partnership Realty Inc / +1 (561) 629-0358 / carloscabalerealtor.com
Partnership Realty Editorial
Content Team · Partnership Realty Inc
+1 (305) 340-6251 · partnershiprealtyinc.com