Cassia Residences Coral Gables

About the Project

Few developers arriving in Miami over the past two decades have left as indelible a mark on its residential skyline as Raimundo Onetto and his firm, Alta Developers. A trained architect who honed his craft in Chile and Spain before relocating to Miami in 2002, Onetto co-founded what eventually became Terra Group — delivering some of the city's most celebrated towers, including One Paraiso, Le Parc at Brickell, 900 Biscayne, and Quantum on the Bay. After establishing Alta Developers as an independent firm, he continued building a portfolio that now exceeds 4,000 residential units across South Florida, including Quadro at the Miami Design District and EON Flagler Village. Onetto is known for being deeply hands-on at every design stage, and for prioritizing the integration of each project into the cultural and physical fabric of its surroundings — a philosophy that finds full expression in Cassia, his firm's most significant undertaking in one of Miami's most exacting cities.

Cassia — The Residences at Coral Gables rises twelve stories at 4011 Salzedo Street in the heart of the Merrick Park District, designed by the acclaimed Miami-based firm Behar Font & Partners. The building presents a refined rectilinear facade clad in white stucco, with emphatic horizontal and vertical articulation created by deeply recessed balconies and precisely framed window openings. Floor-to-ceiling glass floods each residence with natural light, while the ground-floor retail podium features extensive glazing with black aluminum framing, giving the street level a transparent, activated character that animates the pedestrian experience. Interior design of the common areas is the work of IDDI, whose approach weaves tropical botanical motifs throughout the shared spaces — a visual language that extends from the grand lobby through the resort-caliber amenity floors. The building takes its name from the pink-flowering Cassia trees that bloom with extraordinary color across Coral Gables each spring, a nod to the city's cherished identity as a designated Tree City USA and its long tradition of maintaining one of the most beautiful urban canopies in Florida.

Among the most consequential aspects of Cassia is a distinction that no other condominium in Coral Gables can claim: it is the first — and, at present, the only — residential project in the city to receive approval for short-term rentals. Coral Gables has long enforced one of South Florida's most restrictive regulatory environments for short-stay activity, with a citywide prohibition on short-term rentals in residential zones that predates Florida's 2011 state preemption statute, granting the city a rare grandfathered exemption from subsequent legislative attempts to override local restrictions. Where Miami Beach, Miami proper, and other municipalities have been forced to navigate shifting state preemption laws, Coral Gables has held its prohibition firmly in place for well over a decade, limiting short-stay accommodations exclusively to commercial and mixed-use corridors. Alta Developers secured a bespoke zoning approval specifically permitting owners at Cassia to rent their residences for a minimum of three consecutive nights — an extraordinary regulatory carve-out that makes the building genuinely unique in the market. For investors, this approval is not merely a convenience but a structural competitive advantage: Cassia offers a liquidity profile, yield potential, and flexibility unavailable at any comparable address in the city. It is the direct product of Alta's deep experience navigating municipal processes and their conviction — borne out by 50 percent pre-sales before construction financing closed — that demand for a well-located, professionally managed short-stay product in Coral Gables had long outpaced supply.

The 174 fully furnished residences span one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations ranging from 662 to 1,461 square feet, each delivered as a complete turnkey home through a comprehensive partnership with RH Contract — the hospitality and residential division of RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware. Every residence arrives curated with RH's signature furnishings, blending natural materials, refined upholstery, and architectural lighting into cohesive, immediately livable interiors. Kitchens are fitted with European appliances and custom Italian cabinetry by Italkraft, while residences include glass-railed terraces, integrated smart lighting packages, blackout shades in living and bedroom areas, Nest thermostats, full-sized front-loading washers and dryers, and dedicated owners' closets for separation of personal belongings when units are in the rental program. The effect is a residence that functions simultaneously as a primary home, a pied-à-terre, and an income-generating investment — with none of the operational complexity typically associated with short-term rental ownership.

The amenity program at Cassia operates on two distinct registers: the resort and the sanctuary. On the resort side, a heated rooftop pool is framed by cabanas, daybeds, and lush tropical landscaping, along with outdoor BBQ stations and lounge nooks designed for extended social gathering. A ground-floor café anchors the retail level, complemented by approximately 15,000 square feet of curated street-facing retail that will enliven the Salzedo Street frontage. Sculptural art installations — including a commissioned tree sculpture valued at nearly one million dollars — give the arrival sequence and outdoor garden a cultural weight uncommon in residential development. The wellness dimension is equally serious: a fully equipped spa offers steam rooms, a dry sauna, and private massage treatment rooms, while a dedicated indoor pool provides a year-round aquatic facility entirely separate from the outdoor rooftop pool. A yoga and barre studio, state-of-the-art fitness center, and wellness lounge round out the health-focused programming, joined by a grand lobby with full front-desk staffing, an executive business center, and a social club — infrastructure that supports both the full-time resident and the rotating short-stay guest with equal ease.

Cassia occupies one of the most coveted urban addresses in Miami-Dade County. The Merrick Park District sits at the center of Coral Gables, steps from the Shops at Merrick Park — anchored by Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom with over a hundred luxury retailers and restaurants — and within easy reach of Equinox, SoulCycle, and the Elemis Spa. The surrounding streets reflect the city's signature Mediterranean Revival architecture and famously maintained tree canopy, while proximity to the University of Miami, Brickell, and Miami International Airport makes Cassia equally compelling for academic families, healthcare professionals, corporate travelers, and international buyers seeking a regulated, professionally managed pied-à-terre. Alta Developers secured a $94.2 million construction loan from JVP Management in mid-2025, arranged by JLL Capital Markets, underscoring the institutional confidence behind the project. With construction commenced in late 2024 and delivery targeted for the first quarter of 2027, Cassia represents not only the most significant new residential address in Coral Gables — but the first truly investment-grade short-term rental opportunity in a city where such an asset has simply never before existed.

Amenities

Location

4011 Salzedo St, Coral Gables, FL 33146