A Miami-Dade school-district housing plan is getting fresh local attention after new development coverage pointed to apartments proposed near the Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts campus.
The short version: the idea is not a land sale. Miami-Dade County Public Schools has been working through a long-term ground-lease structure that would keep district ownership of the Goodwill Site while allowing income-restricted apartments to be built and operated there.
That distinction matters because the project sits at the intersection of two local pressures: South Miami-Dade's need for more attainable housing and the school district's need to pay for major campus work without giving up public land outright.
What changed
Axios Miami reported Monday, July 27, 2026, that a local developer is hoping to build affordable housing on a portion of the Arthur & Polly Mays campus area, citing plans that include 364 income-restricted apartments in a three-story building with a clubhouse, pool and parking.
The South Florida Business Journal reported July 23 that Atlantic Pacific Communities filed a pre-application for apartments at the Miami-Dade County Public Schools site. The new application activity follows a district redevelopment framework that was already moving through school-board documents.
What the district documents say
A June 17, 2026, Miami-Dade School Board agenda packet describes the Goodwill Site at 24375 South Dixie Highway in Homestead as district-owned property and says the objective is to generate capital for reconstruction of the Arthur & Polly Mays K-12 school facility, provide workforce and affordable housing, and establish long-term revenue streams.
The same packet says Housing Trust Group was advanced into negotiations for the Goodwill Site and describes a proposed structure of approximately 348 income-restricted multifamily units, delivered in phases and financed through sources commonly used for affordable housing developments. The document says the district would retain ownership and grant a limited leasehold interest rather than convey the land.
The packet also says the district expected about $6.7 million in upfront capitalized lease payments for the Goodwill Site, plus participation in the project's financial performance. Separately, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has said the Arthur & Polly Mays K-12 arts campus project carries an $85 million construction budget and is expected to be complete in June 2029.
Why Miami readers should watch it
If the plan advances, it could become a local test case for using underused or repurposed public-school property to support both housing and school construction. For residents, the key questions are practical: how many units survive the final approval process, who qualifies for them, how the lease terms protect public land, and how construction is coordinated around the school campus.
The current public materials do not settle every detail. Income requirements, final unit count, phasing, permitting, traffic review and community conditions can still change as the application and negotiated agreements move through the county and school-district process.
What happens next
Residents should watch for formal application filings, school-board approvals of final agreements, county land-use or permitting reviews, and any community meetings tied to the Mays/Pine Villa campus area. The most important signal will be whether officials keep the housing plan tied to a specific, enforceable school-facility funding benefit while preserving public ownership of the land.
