Miami-Dade County plans to break ground Tuesday, August 11, on a new South Dade Pet Adoption and Protection Center, turning a year-old land-exchange plan into a visible construction step for residents south of the urban core.
The county says the project is now planned as a $25 million, 30,000-square-foot facility at 29500 Harriet Tubman Highway in Miami. The public ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and is expected to include Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, county commissioners Danielle Cohen Higgins and Juan Carlos Bermudez, Animal Services Director Annette Jose and UniCapital Asset Management Group founder Ivan Herrera.
What Is Changing
The center is intended to expand animal care, veterinary services and adoption opportunities in South Miami-Dade. That matters because the county's current animal-services hub is in Doral, while the new project would put more services closer to Homestead-area, Redland, Florida City and other South Dade residents who otherwise face longer trips for adoptions or pet wellness needs.
The project also replaces a Medley overflow shelter in the county's broader plan. In its earlier approval notice, Miami-Dade said the South Dade site would include modern kennel areas, medical suites, play yards, an adoption center and the county's spay and neuter clinic now located at the South Dade Government Center.
Why The Price Changed
The August groundbreaking follows a July 21 County Commission vote on File 261292. County records show commissioners adopted a resolution authorizing the mayor or a designee to negotiate and execute an amendment to the exchange agreement with UniCapital Medley QOZB LLC, increase the county's minimum contribution and approve contingency money for the Animal Services Department project.
The adopted item authorized up to $3 million more for the county contribution, bringing that contribution under the amendment to no more than $6.2 million. It also approved up to $1 million for design and construction contingency tied to minimum design changes or unforeseen construction conditions. A county memo tied to the item described the total project amount as rising from roughly $21 million to about $25 million.
That funding change is the practical detail behind the ceremonial groundbreaking. The county is not only announcing a ribbon-and-shovel event; it is moving ahead after commissioners accepted a higher project budget and delegated authority to finish the amendment needed for the updated design requirements.
What To Watch Next
The county's 2025 announcement said the future South Dade shelter would be developed through a public-private exchange: Miami-Dade would convey the Medley shelter property for income-restricted affordable housing and receive land for the South Dade facility. At the time, the county said the Medley property would be transformed into a residential development with at least 100 income-restricted apartments.
The next questions are construction timing, final facility capacity and how quickly the new site changes daily animal-services access once it opens. The earlier county timeline anticipated substantial completion in September 2027, but the current advisory focuses on the August 11, 2026 groundbreaking and the updated $25 million project scale.
For South Dade residents, the immediate takeaway is simple: a long-planned county animal-services project now has a public construction kickoff date, and the budget record shows why it is bigger than the version commissioners first approved.
