Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Brings 220 Rare Orchids and More to Miami New Home Development, Pine Rockland Estates

In a unique blend of community and conservation, Coral Gables based homebuilder CC Homes – a Codina-Carr Company has teamed up with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to bring beauty, biodiversity, and a deeper sense of place to Pine Rockland Estates – a private, luxury new home development in the South Miami area.

Here, a new kind of neighborhood is taking root — one where orchids bloom beside front porches, and properties are framed by sweeping views of preserved pine rockland habitat, offering a front-row seat to one of South Florida’s rarest and most beautiful landscapes.

“The serenity of a pine rockland landscape is one you cannot see anywhere else in the world – apart from South Florida,” notes Andres Miyares, president of CC Homes. “Now inscribed at the community’s entrance on Sunset Drive, the name of this community serves as a tribute to the protected land, and its ecological significance.”

The site of the home development — now featuring 26 newly completed estates — was, for many years, a vacant tract of land without ecological significance. In contrast, a 12-acre expanse of undisturbed pine rockland is situated just southeast of the neighborhood. Defined by open canopies of slash pine, sunlit clearings, and a mosaic of wildflowers and endemic species, this rare habitat once blanketed South Florida and now survives only in scattered fragments.

For CC Homes and the residents of Pine Rockland Estates, preserving this natural legacy is a shared stewardship. One that begins with orchids. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden cultivates rare and native orchid species in controlled lab environments for its Million Orchid Project, the nation’s largest educational outreach program dedicated to orchid conservation.

By bringing more than 200 rare orchids to the community and educating the homeowners at Pine Rockland Estates on how to care for them, CC Homes and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden aim to provide more than just flowers, but also the story of the preserve’s ecological identity.

“Establishing these native species in residential settings is essential for the long-term security of their populations in our region and helps support broader native orchid conservation efforts,” explains Jason Downing, Ph.D, orchid biologist at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. “Through our research, we’ve identified species that are resilient in urban landscapes and developed environments. All orchids are provided with that adaptability in mind.”

During the new construction process and among other efforts, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s team of conservationists conducted site inspections within and around the preserve as an extra level of protection for the pine rockland area, which is officially managed by Miami-Dade County.

“The strategic placement of these native orchids will be so worthwhile,” said one of the new homeowners at Pine Rockland Estates, Susan Manzo. “The project was of particular interest to us because we’ve been positioning orchids in our shade trees for over 50 years, which has added so much color, interest, and butterflies to all our surroundings and is so rewarding.”