South Florida Community Land Trust’s First Site In Miami-Dade County in Partnership with the Haitian American Community Development Corporation
South Florida Community Land Trust And Haitian American Community Development Corporation Partner For Miami Foundation’s My Miami Story
MIAMI (November 19, 2018) – (RealEstateRama) — On Oct. 23, as part of The Miami Foundation’s My Miami Story, the South Florida Community Land Trust (SFCLT) and the Haitian American Community Development Corporation (HACDC) asked local Miamians to share stories about their community and to discuss one of the biggest issues facing our county: affordable housing.
A room largely filled with Haitian Americans shared stories about island living and Miami upbringings. Many highlighted the cultural richness that Miami has to offer, from the feeling of “home away from home” to the familiar foods and weather.
The group also engaged in a discussion about the transformation of Little Haiti. HACDC has worked in the community for over 30 years to improve the lives of local residents. As new investment comes into the neighborhood, HACDC’s Executive Director, Sam Diller notes that “preserving the history and culture is imperative to building community” and added that “the HACDC is extremely pleased to work with the SFCLT in building community, one project at a time, and with resident involvement from the start.”
During the conversation, SFCLT announced its plans to work with the HACDC to create new affordable housing in the heart of Little Haiti, an initiative inspired through funding provided to SFCLT by Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) to promote creative joint ventures between CLTs and place-based community groups like HACDC. All of the housing will be placed in a Community Land Trust (CLT) which will preserve the affordability of housing from one generation to the next. Unlike traditional affordable housing strategies, the land is never resold, but is held forever in trust.
Architects gathered in the room to hear about the needs and desires of the community. SFCLT’s Miami Market Manager, Charles Dabney noted that “We expect this to be the first of several engagements with the community” as the SFCLT works to design a townhouse development in Little Haiti with and for the neighborhood. McG Architecture and Planning, a local firm based in Little Haiti, was selected to design the homes and J. Kelly Advisors will oversee the construction. The homes are projected to be complete in early 2020.
Coming fresh from its recent participation in Enterprise’s Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute (AHDLI), where it was among a select group of nonprofits invited to Seattle to participate in a hands-on design convening that assembled the nation’s leading designers and affordable housing developers, SFCLT hopes to use its learnings from its AHDLI participation to create a development that will favorably impact the residents’ health, wealth creation, and sense of community cohesion.
SFCLT purchased the first CLT property in Miami through the SFCLT Accelerator Fund, an equity source that allows the organization to compete in a high -cost, cash-driven market by providing a source of cash to acquire property and complete predevelopment. Launched last year with founding corporate support from Citi Community Development and leveraged with resources from Enterprise Community Partners, the fund aims to accelerate the launch of CLTs in Miami-Dade County and expand the impact in Broward County.
For more information on South Florida Community Land Trust, go to www.southfloridaclt.org.
South Florida Community Land Trust is a non-profit corporation that protects land to keep housing affordable forever. With a mission “to provide and preserve quality, sustainable, affordable housing for underserved populations in South Florida,” the group is committed to ensuring that individuals and families can afford housing without compromising on quality or location. Information about South Florida Community Land Trust is available at www.southfloridaclt.org. Follow South Florida CLT on Twitter @Southfloridaclt and Facebook.
Since it was incorporated in 1987 by Little Haiti stakeholders as Little Haiti Housing Association, Inc. the key programmatic focus of the Haitian American Community Development Corporation (HACDC), as a non-profit organization, has been to provide affordable housing services to members of the Little Haiti community and by extension members of the Haitian-American community of Miami-Dade County.
MEDIA CONTACT
Rebekah Bibee
The Idea, Inc.
Rebekah Bibee
The Idea, Inc.
