MIAMI, FL - Miami-Dade County commissioners on Tuesday gave Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning's charity a 65-year lease on 7 acres of county-owned land in downtown Miami, where he and partners plan affordable rental housing. The charity is partnering with the Housing Trust Group (HTG), a Coconut Grove-based for-profit developer controlled, in part, by former CB Richard Ellis Vice Chairman Jay Massirman, who left for the private sector in 2006.
The resolution, approved by commissioners in a 12-1 vote, indicates that the partners will lease the land, in Miami's Overtown neighborhood, for $1 a year. Shawn Wilson, a principal with HTG, said in an interview that the cost of the project is estimated at $39 million.
Mourning's charity plans to construct a total of 190 units. About 95 of the two- and three-bedroom units would be reserved for families with an income at or below 60 percent of the county's adjusted median income. Elderly residents will have to meet the same income criteria to qualify for the 95 planned one-bedroom units.
According to the resolution, funding will come from several sources: a conventional first mortgage; the sale of tax credits; gap funding from Miami-Dade County totaling $3.75 million; and the combination of bridge financing and equity from Local Initiatives Support Corp., a national organization that works with community groups to obtain funding for affordable housing.
The breakdown of funds, including how much the organizations involved will contribute, was not clear from the resolution or the commission's discussion.
The site, at the southwest corner of Northwest Third Avenue and 17th Street, is home to Miami-Dade County's Culmer Neighborhood Service Center. The center will share the site with the housing project.
Source: South Florida Business Journal