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City of Miami not implementing "homeownership zones"
despite assurances to federal HUD in its Consolidated Plan
By John Little
Last summer
members of the Miami City Commission and others had urged that a "Housing Summit"
be convened to bring together representatives of local government and the private
sector (both nonprofit and for-profit) to strategize on how the creation of affordable
housing opportunities could more effectively be accomplished.It now appears that the scheduling of the summit is being postponed. It is speculated that a decision will not be made until a new permanent director has been appointed to the City's Community Development Department.
In preparation for the eventual summit, it is instructive to review what the City of Miami told Federal HUD in its most recent Five Year Consolidated Plan (1999-2004).
A cornerstone of the strategy outlined in the Plan was an innovative "Homeownership Zone" concept. Three years into the Plan, however, only one of the proposed seven Homeownership Zones is being implemented. Furthermore, the Model Cities Zone has no representatives of nonprofit community development corporations (CDCs) on its governing board (the Consolidated Plan stated that CDCs would participate).
The South Florida Community Development Coalition has urged that the City begin implementation of the remaining six Homeownership Zones. The Coalition looks forward to the upcoming summit as an opportunity to explore ways that CDCs and other private sector participants can collaborate in the process.
The full text of the City's Consolidated Plan can be found at:
http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/Community_Development/hud5yearplan.htm
Below is a clipping from the Consolidated Plan. It is the portion that deals with the City's proposed Housing strategy (including Homeownership Zones).
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QUALITY HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES STRATEGY
HOUSING PROBLEMS OVERVIEW
The magnitude of the housing problem in the City of Miami is best illustrated by the fact that approximately 75% of low-income families are now living in substandard or overcrowded housing or are paying excessive amounts of their family income for housing related costs. This shortage of housing has created an acute problem of overcrowding, especially in the neighborhoods of Allapattah, Edison/Little River and Little Havana, which has resulted in illegal conversions of single family homes to rooming houses and illegal additions to existing housing units. Large concentrations of public housing and multi-family rental apartments in the City's traditional target areas of Allapattah, Little Havana, Model City and Overtown have also had a negative impact on surrounding residential areas resulting in the gradual deterioration of the existing housing inventory. This housing deterioration continues to be a major problem due to the reluctance of landlords and property owners to invest!
in the maintenance of older residential properties and the inability of many older residents to afford expensive and much needed repairs to their homes.
The continued influx of new immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Central America has only further exacerbated the challenges of overcrowding and housing deterioration in Miami's residential neighborhoods. Overall, this has resulted in a housing stock, which has become increasingly unavailable and unaffordable to the majority of the City's very low, low and moderate-income households. The City of Miami has experienced migration of its middle income families to more suitable and affordable housing outside of the City's corporate limits. This has occurred at a time when the cost of providing City services has also increased dramatically. Low and decreasing levels of homeownership due to the out-migration of the middle class has contributed to the ongoing erosion of stable and vital transitional neighborhoods.
While the City experienced the out-migration of its middle class, it also experienced an increase in its need to address its special needs population. The City has become a community with a much older population along with a significant number of homeless persons who have serious substance abuse, mental and physical health issues. In addition to the challenges of addressing the needs of its homeless, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County must also address the housing needs of its residents affected by HIV/AIDS. At the end of 1998, the Miami-Dade Eligible Metropolitan Statistical Area (EMSA) ranked fourth among metropolitan statistical areas in the United States in cumulative AIDS cases. As of March 1999, there were 21,920 cumulative cases reported in Miami-Dade County with 10,655 reported to be located in the City of Miami municipal limits.
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Based on the 1990 census, the City of Miami, with a population of approximately 358,000 residents was ranked as the nation's fourth poorest city with a poverty rate of 31.2% and with the lowest median household income in the nation at $16,925. Moreover, according to the 1990 census, the City also has about 144,500 units of housing, of which two-thirds are rental units. In several of the City's distressed neighborhoods, the homeownership rate is less than twenty percent (20%). It is clear that with the level of housing deterioration and overcrowding existing in the City, one of the most critical challenges facing the City is the need to create affordable homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income families in its low-income neighborhoods.
The housing development strategy for the City of Miami seeks to promote and expand the development of affordable homeownership through the implementation of new in-fill housing initiatives in the City's distressed neighborhoods. Throughout the City, there exists a vast amount of vacant and underutilized residential properties, which have contributed to the slum and blighted conditions, as well as disinvestment in the immediate neighborhoods. Not only have these vacant properties served as a depository for trash, construction materials, and abandoned vehicles, but also in their present state, have negatively impacted the quality of life of neighborhood residents. The development of these vacant properties will be a major housing strategy to be undertaken by the City through the establishment of seven (7) homeownership zones in the City of Miami.
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES - HOMEOWNERSHIP ZONES
One of the major components of the City's Five-Year Consolidated Plan will emphasize a housing strategy which is designed to facilitate the creation of home ownership opportunities for residents of the Community Revitalization Districts. Several of Miami's neighborhoods will be provided special attention, with an emphasis on the development of new in-fill housing on publicly owned parcels for purchase by area residents.
The Home Ownership Zone Program will channel substantial financial resources into targeted residential areas within the City of Miami. The goal of the program is to create home ownership opportunities for very low, low and moderate-income families in several of the City's economically distressed neighborhoods, combined with intensive redevelopment and development of vacant residential parcels throughout the City. Currently, these properties are eyesores to neighborhoods and serve as vehicles for illegal dumping and, in their current state, generate very little revenue for the City.
Specific goals for the Home Ownership Zones will focus on the development of 1000 new affordable homeownership housing units annually through the participation of the private sector housing industry, not-for-profit community development corporations (CDCs), Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida and private banking institutions that have made financial commitments through the Empowerment Zone.
* DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLICLY-OWNED PARCELS IN THE ZONES
The initial development strategy of the City's In-fill Housing Initiative Program will focus on the development of city and county-owned parcels in the City's Home Ownership Zones.
Presently, over one hundred city-owned residential vacant parcels are available for development in the neighborhoods of Allapattah, Model City, Edison-Little River, Overtown and Wynwood. These parcels should be declared surplus property by the Miami City Commission, and made available to housing providers to develop new homeownership housing. The subject parcels should be made available to both private sectors housing developers and not-for-profit community development corporations at no cost. All cost savings in the construction of the housing product attributed to the City's land disposition policy for affordable housing should be passed on to the prospective homebuyer. The coordinated disposition of City-owned parcels or the production of home ownership housing by both private sector housing developers and not-for-profit community development corporations, should occur immediately during the first year of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan.
Secondly, during the first year of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan, the City will aggressively pursue the acquisition and/or transfer of all Miami-Dade County-owned and State of Florida-owned residential properties, for the purpose of developing affordable housing on such properties. Although many of these publicly-owned parcels of land currently have a "negative value" due to the excessive number of outstanding tax, demolition, garbage collection, and real estate tax liens, the City will aggressively work with each of the respective governmental entities to mitigate all outstanding liens which preclude the private housing industry from developing affordable housing in the City's inner city neighborhoods.
A special Citywide Task Force consisting of representatives from the Departments of Community Development, Building and Zoning, Law, Finance, and the Office of Asset Management, will be established to address many of the outstanding negative encumbrances and liens which preclude the subject properties from having a clean and marketable title. This must be an on-going process and strategy throughout the implementation of the City's Five-Year Consolidated Plan.
In addition to the development of all publicly-owned properties located in the Home Ownership Zones, the City will also aggressively encourage the development of privately owned residential properties by the current owners. This strategy will be facilitated with financial assistance available through the City's various federal, state and local resources to the private sector housing industry and not-for-profit community development corporations.
The development of scattered site housing units through the City's In-fill Housing Initiatives Program will also be complemented through the development of larger City-owned or privately-owned tracts, which include the Northwestern Estates, Civic Center and the Bobby Maduro Stadium parcels. The development of the aforementioned parcels provides an opportunity for the City to develop approximately 600-650 new owner-occupied housing units in the neighborhoods of Allapattah and Model City in the first year of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan.
SELECTED HOME OWNERSHIP ZONES
Through the Home Ownership Zone strategy, the City will channel substantial resources targeted to the development of new affordable housing and the rehabilitation of the existing residential housing stock in neighborhoods. The geographical areas which will receive Home Ownership Zone designation are largely based on the low and decreasing levels of homeownership and the level of household income which continues to erode the stability and vitality of the neighborhood. In the selected neighborhoods, the homeownership rate is less than 20% and the household income for families of these same neighborhoods is less than 50% of the median income for Miami-Dade County. In an effort to address the low rate of homeownership in several of the City's neighborhoods, seven Home Ownership Zones will be included within each of the Community Revitalization Districts, with a production goal of 1,000 new affordable homeownership housing units annually.
* ALLAPATTAH HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
In the Allapattah neighborhood, the City will establish two Home Ownership Zones. One area will be bounded by NW 17th Avenue to the East, NW 20th Street to the South, NW 27th Avenue to the West, and NW 36th Street to the North. The other will be bounded by NW 20th Street to the North, NW 14th Avenue to the East, NW 17th Avenue to the West, and NW 14th Street to the South.
The Allapattah neighborhood because of its central location in Miami-Dade County and proximity to downtown, the airport and seaport, offers an opportunity for the City to further promote its community and economic development strategy through the development of affordable home ownership in the neighborhood. The area has a strong employment base due to the location of the Civic Center complex, Jackson Memorial Hospital and other commercial and industrial areas. The expansion of the commercial and industrial areas in conjunction with the increased airport/seaport activities and future growth of the Civic Center/Hospital Complex will only further impact the need for affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate-income families.
In recent years, the development of the Melrose Townhomes Project and the Fern Isle Gardens Townhomes Project in the Allapattah neighborhood provides an example of the potential which exists when the public and private sectors work together to provide affordable homeownership opportunities for those working poor families in the City.
The Allapattah Home Ownership Zone offers the City a great opportunity to facilitate the development of approximately 500 new affordable home ownership units in the first two years of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan. Currently, there exists the 2.9 acre Civic Center site and the 12.6 acre Bobby Maduro Stadium site, two large tracts of land which would allow for the construction of over 500 housing units in the Allapattah neighborhood.
In addition, based on a survey of available residential parcels located in the Allapattah neighborhood, approximately ten city-owned scattered parcels are available for the development of new single family homes for purchase by very low, low and moderate-income families. In order to meet the City's home ownership production goals over the next five years, County-owned parcels would have to be acquired, along with additional land acquisition activities by the City to meet the need for increased home ownership opportunities in this neighborhood.
* MODEL CITY HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The Model City Home Ownership Zone will be bounded by NW 71st Street to the North; NW 54th Street to the South; East to I-95 and West to NW 17th Avenue.
This largest African-American community in the City has a number of housing-related problems, including poor and substandard housing conditions. The housing problems are exacerbated by unresponsive absentee landlords and the widespread pattern of housing abandonment, which leads to the illicit re-use of these structures as crack houses. Moreover, a pattern of neglectful, aggressive code enforcement by local government has resulted in vacant and overgrown lots, and abandoned houses. It has also contributed to the out-migration of middle class families to other areas of Miami-Dade County and Broward County in search of a better quality of life.
Past and future redevelopment activities along the NW 7th Avenue corridor, in addition to other major business corridors in the area for the expansion of economic development opportunities for Black businesses, should be encouraged and nurtured.
The Model City Home Ownership Zone also offers the City a greater opportunity to facilitate its goal of developing over 1,000 new affordable homeownership housing units in the first two years of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan. Two large tracts of land in the Zone will receive immediate attention through the City's efforts working in partnership with Miami-Dade County, the private housing industry, not-for-profit affordable housing developers, Fannie Mae, the Empowerment Zone Trust, and private financial institutions. The Northwestern Estates site, a ten acre parcel of vacant land currently under city ownership located between Northwest 7th and 10th Avenues, will provide an opportunity to construct approximately 100-150 homeownership units over the next two years.
The other geographical area where the City will be proactive in redeveloping and developing affordable homeownership housing is the area located at Northwest 62nd and 58th Streets between Northwest 12th and 17th Avenues. Currently, site acquisition activities are underway by the City for the acquisition of six abandoned and vacant multifamily apartment buildings located in the King Heights/Orchard Villas neighborhood of Model City. Recently, the Housing Assistance Payment contract between U.S. HUD, Miami-Dade County and Miami Ltd. was terminated, and the tenants relocated. It is also the City's plan to acquire the Section 8 Multifamily Apartment Buildings, which are currently under contact between U.S. HUD, the City and Miami Ltd. II, once the Housing Assistance Payment contract expires in the near future.
Currently, there also exists a 2.9-acre city-owned parcel located at Northwest 7th Avenue and 7th Court between Northwest 59th and 60th Streets. This parcel would afford the City the opportunity to develop a mixed-use housing project, which would be similar to the Latin Quarter Specialty Project, which combines both commercial and housing on the same site.
There also exists in the City's inventory approximately twenty-five scattered in-fill-housing sites, which could be developed in the first year of the plan. Additional County-owned parcels will be also acquired to assist the City in aggressively meeting its goal of 1,000 new affordable homeownership housing units to be developed annually over the next five years.
As the private housing industry and not-for-profit affordable housing developers construct new housing on all available publicly-owned parcels in the area, additional land acquisition activities and funding for site acquisition will be made available by the City to expedite the development of all available privately owned, underutilized, vacant parcels in the zone.
In addition, the rehabilitation of the existing single family housing stock in the Model City Home Ownership Zones will also be carried out by the City through the Single Family Rehabilitation Program, along with increased Code Enforcement by the Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET).
* EDISON/LITTLE RIVER HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The Edison-Little River Home Ownership Zone will be bounded by NW 79th Street to the North, NE 2nd Avenue to the East; I-95 to the West and NW 54th Street to the South.
Similar to other communities in Miami-Dade County that have served as havens for immigrants from other communities, the neighborhood of Edison Little River/Little Haiti has a diverse mixture of ethnicities. The largest group is the Haitian population. The neighborhood is in a very good location with respect to proximity to Downtown, and the airport and seaport, which are the locations of some of the major employers in Miami-Dade County. There are a number of historic single family residences that are well-built.
Like the Model City neighborhood, there exists a widespread pattern of housing abandonment and unresponsive absentee landlords who have not maintained their properties. Housing overcrowding and the lack of code enforcement are also major problems in this community. For this community, the expansion of homeownership opportunities is vital to stabilization. The low-income residents of this community require homebuyer counseling and education during the process of qualifying for homeownership. In most instances, it is difficult for many of the families to qualify for mortgages, and it is imperative that the City, working with local financial institutions, structure a mortgage qualification process that would enable prospective homebuyers to benefit from the homeownership opportunities that will be available in the community over the next five years.
Presently, there are approximately eighteen city-owned parcels in the Little Haiti neighborhood, which would be available for the development of new single family homes for purchase by very low, low and moderate-income families in the first year. Initially, the City's efforts will focus on the development of these city-owned parcels while a process to secure county-owned parcels in the zone is underway.
Due to the lack of any large publicly owned parcels which could facilitate the development of substantial housing units in the first year, ongoing land acquisition activities will be undertaken by the City. In addition, as part of the City's strategy, both site acquisition and/or project financing assistance will be made available to both private developers and not-for-profit community development corporations for the development of privately-owned parcels in the zone. Not-for-profit corporations such as the Little Haiti Housing Association and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, Inc. will play a major role in assisting the City in expanding the availability of homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income families in the zone.
Expanded code enforcement activities and increases in single family rehabilitation activities will also be a key element of the City's housing strategy for this community.
* WYNWOOD HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The Wynwood Home Ownership Zone will be bounded to the North by NW 36th Street, East by Miami Avenue, South by NW 29th Street, and West by I-95.
The Wynwood/Edgewater community, because of its central location and accessibility, envisions a role as Miami's "midtown". The growth of the city core northward will facilitate increased development opportunities and create new markets especially in trade-related industries. Increased job and business opportunities for neighborhood residents will occur due to the revitalization of the Garment Center, warehouse and industrial space, the Foreign Trade Zone Project, the Performing Arts Center and support businesses and development of the FEC tract.
The neighborhood has a high degree of rental housing, which has also deteriorated due to absentee landlords' refusal to perform ongoing maintenance and repairs to their properties. The lack of code enforcement and affordable housing is also a major problem, which has contributed the neighborhood's decline. The housing strategy for this community would focus on in-fill housing, the rehabilitation of the existing housing stock and land acquisition for new affordable housing development.
Currently, there exist only three vacant City-owned residential parcels in the neighborhood, which could be developed for homeownership housing. Due to the lack of available housing sites, the City will work to identify all available county-owned parcels to carry out its in-fill housing strategy. Ongoing land acquisition activities for new housing development will be undertaken by the City to further implement the strategy. Project financing will also be made available to private developers and not-for-profit housing developers for the development of homeownership housing on privately owned parcels in the neighborhood.
* LITTLE HAVANA HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The Little Havana Home Ownership Zone will be bounded to the North by NW 7th Street, SW 8th Street and SW 11th Street to the South, the Miami River and I-95 to the East, and SW 17th and SW 22nd Avenues to the West. Due to the lack of substantial publicly owned parcels in the zone, additional funding for land acquisition activities will be required. The development of townhomes and high rise condominium units by the private housing industry and community development corporations will be emphasized in this zone.
The Little Havana neighborhood for many Hispanics, especially Cuban-Americans is the heart of the Hispanic culture for the overall community. Although many Cuban immigrants have become financially successful and have moved away, for Cuban-Americans who were very young when they emigrated from Cuba, this neighborhood is the closest thing to their home country. Moreover, as the younger Cuban-Americans have moved out, the neighborhood has seen an influx of new Hispanics who are refugees from Central and South America. The community has increasingly become a population of Hispanic elderly who like to live in Little Havana because they can be self-sufficient with easy access to goods and services provided to them by persons who speak in their own language.
Although one of the strengths of the community is the high quality of new affordable housing in the neighborhood sponsored by the East Little Havana Community Development Corporation, there is still a great need to improve the overall living conditions of many of the residents. The need for housing designed to accommodate extended families or at least the ability to construct granny flats as extensions to existing housing needs to be explored. Locating the elderly family members nearby is very important to community residents. Additionally, special facilities to care for the disabled and individuals with mental illness in the neighborhood does not exist, and are deemed important to the area.
The presence of substandard housing, overcrowding, and the lack of aggressive code enforcement has contributed to the decline which has been experienced in the neighborhood. Moreover, one key factor is that many of the vacant parcels in the area, which could be developed, have environmental hazards and/or contamination that are costly to remove. This problem makes the cost of affordable housing development unreasonable, and prevents the land from being developed, leaving it an eyesore and available to be used as a dumping ground. The application of the Brownfields Redevelopment Program will play a vital role in assisting the City in carrying out cleanup activity and subsequent redevelopment of contaminated sites, which could be suitable for housing development.
The housing strategy in the Little Havana Home Ownership Zone will continue to emphasize the development of affordable housing for purchase by low-income families. The participation of both the private housing industry and not-for-profit housing providers such as the East Little Havana Community Development Corporation will continue to play an active role in assisting the City in meeting its housing production goal of 1,000 housing annually units over five years. At this time, due to the lack of the availability of City-owned parcels, an aggressive effort will be undertaken to identify all available County-owned parcels in the neighborhood suitable for the development of affordable housing. Ongoing site acquisition activities will be undertaken by the City to secure housing sites that would be suitable for the development of affordable housing. The development of mixed-use housing projects such as the proposed Latin Quarter Specialty Center, townhomes and high-rise condomini!
um projects by the private housing industry and community development corporations will be emphasized due to the lack and high cost of housing sites in the Zone.
The housing strategy will also focus on the provision of incentives for middle-income Young Cuban-Americans (YUCAs) to purchase older historic homes and renovate them in order to move to the City. This would afford the City an opportunity to facilitate the influx of middle class families into the City while generating more retail activities in the neighborhood for the local small business community.
Expanded code enforcement activities and increased single family rehabilitation activities will also be a key element of the City's housing strategy for this community.
* WEST COCONUT GROVE HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The West Coconut Grove Home Ownership Zone will be bounded by Bird Road to the North, MacDonald Street to the East, South by Grand Avenue, and Douglas Road to the West
The Coconut Grove target area, also known as "West Grove", is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the City of Miami. It was established more than a century ago and settled by people from the Bahamas. The residential area is comprised of a combination of single family homes, duplexes and medium-density multifamily apartment buildings. The West Grove also has a lower percentage of homeownership than the City's average. Local businesses along the commercial strips on Grand Avenue and Douglas Road serve the immediate neighborhood.
The age of the housing stock is a serious problem, and is deteriorating at a rapid rate, especially in the Grand Avenue and South Grand Avenue area.
The age of the housing stock, particularly the older wood frame, single family houses are deteriorating at a rapid pace, especially in the area south of Grand Avenue. In the last ten years, like many of Miami's neighborhoods, the neighborhood has experienced increased poverty, crime, abandoned and boarded up housing units and middle class "flight". The neighborhood has also experienced a decrease in homeownership and an increase in the number of renters.
The housing strategy for the West Coconut Grove Homeownership Zone will focus on increasing affordable homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income families through the development of in-fill scattered site housing. This strategy will also focus on providing affordable housing for the neighborhood's elderly and single female headed households. Due to the lack of City-owned parcels currently available in the zone, land acquisition activities for new housing development would have to be undertaken by the City. Moreover, due to the lack of substantial privately owned parcels in the neighborhood, the City will encourage and promote mixed commercial-residential development, especially along Grand Avenue for a more efficient utilization of available land in the area. Private developers will be encouraged to develop both middle-income and mixed-income housing projects similar to the St. Hugh Oaks Village Condominiums Project located at Douglas Road and Franklin Avenue, t!
o provide affordable homeownership opportunities to both low and middle-income families.
Increased single family rehabilitation activities and expanded code enforcement activities will also be a key element of the City's housing strategy for this zone.
* OVERTOWN HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE
The Overtown Home Ownership Zone will be bounded by NW 22nd Terrace and 20th Street to the North, the F.E.C. railroad tracks to the East, I-95, SR 836, and the Miami River to the West, and NW 5th Street to the South.
The Overtown neighborhood, once a vibrant neighborhood and considered the Black economic and social mecca of South Florida, has survived as a district area in spite of past "urban renewal efforts" by government.
The community has experienced limited gain or benefit from various revitalization activities undertaken since urban renewal and the construction of the Interstate 95 and Interstate 395/State Road 836. With the exception of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Redevelopment Area, the Overtown Community remains in a deteriorated state with substandard housing, abandoned and boarded-up buildings, minimal social services, and a lack of local employment and economic development opportunities. One of the most significant social problems of the Overtown neighborhood is the weakening family structure. There are numerous single parent (mothers) households, disenfranchised children, elderly lacking appropriate care, or suffering from abuse and isolation.
The community, once a viable and stable low to middle-income neighborhood, has experienced the same fate as other City of Miami neighborhoods leaving the poor to live in government subsidized public housing and privately owned slum and deteriorating multi-family tenements.
The Overtown community has a number of housing-related problems, which include low-income families living in substandard or overcrowded housing. An excessive amount of the families' incomes are utilized for housing-related costs. There is also an abundance of unresponsive absentee landlords, and a widespread pattern of housing abandonment, which has lead to the establishment of crack dens in the abandoned structures. This area has also experienced a lack of aggressive code enforcement by local government, is plagued with vacant and overgrown lots which has also encouraged the out-migration of the "working poor" families to other areas of Miami-Dade County.
The City's housing strategy of the past, which included allocating millions of dollars for the rehabilitation of privately-owned multi-family apartment buildings throughout the neighborhood, has been a complete failure.
The high degree of housing deterioration and lack of homeownership, which is the lowest in the City, has only further aided the erosion of the community.
The housing strategy for the Overtown Homeownership Zone will focus on the development of over forty-six City-owned parcels, which have been identified in the community. The City will also pursue the acquisition of County-owned housing parcels, which are also located in the zone for the development of affordable housing. Moreover, the City also plans to aggressively pursue and institute foreclosure action against all delinquent owners of multifamily apartment buildings that have received low interest multifamily rehabilitation loans from the City. Once acquired, certain properties would be demolished and made available to developers for the development of new affordable homeownership housing.
In addition to the development of all publicly owned properties located in the zone, the City will also encourage and promote the development of privately owned residential properties by the current owners. This strategy will be facilitated through the provision of financial assistance to the private sector housing industry or not-for-profit community development corporations from various federal, state and local resources.
Expanded code enforcement activities will be carried out by the Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) and the Department of Fire Rescue. Limited single family rehabilitation activities will be available to homeowners in the neighborhood.
HOME OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN THE EMPOWERMENT ZONE
The designation of Miami-Dade County by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Federal Urban Empowerment Zone offers the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County an unprecedented opportunity and obligation to transform its distressed communities, and to connect residents with jobs and affordable housing opportunities while working in concert with the private sector and business community. The City of Miami comprises over seventy-four percent (74%) of the designated Miami-Dade Empowerment Zone that includes parts of the Allapattah, Downtown, East Little Havana, Model City, Wynwood and Overtown neighborhoods. Nearly $400 million in capital commitments for lending and investment have been targeted within the Empowerment Zone by eighteen private sector banking institutions for the first two years. It is projected that the total investment over the ten-year life of the Empowerment Zone by the private sector banking institutions will exceed $1 billion.
Miami-Dade County has committed $100 million of its funds to match the federal investment that would come with the Empowerment Zone funding. This commitment would include funding which would be available to assist the City in its efforts to provide affordable housing opportunities to low and moderate-income families in the neighborhoods located in the Empowerment Zone. In addition to Miami-Dade County, the Fannie Mae Foundation through its Fannie House Miami-Dade has since 1994 made a five year $5 billion strategy commitment for homeownership and rental housing production. A commitment of $260 million has been targeted by Fannie Mae for housing in the Zone.
In addition to its federal entitlement of $30 million, the City will also aggressively pursue other federal, state and local resources to leverage sufficient housing dollars which would assist the City in meeting the anticipated demand for affordable homeownership units by working families that are gainfully employed and view Miami's neighborhoods as being centrally located in close proximity to the workplace.
In order to provide affordable homeownership opportunities for all of its low and moderate-income families and individuals, for housing projects which are being proposed outside of the Empowerment Zone, the City will utilize its financial resources to assist in the financing of such projects.
FINANCING SOURCES FOR HOME OWNERSHIP ZONE PROGRAM
In order to aggressively meet the City's housing production goal of 5,000 new homeownership units during the five year period of the Consolidated Plan, the housing programs and funding sources that will be targeted by the City are identified as reflected in the following chart. (See Pages 114 and 115)
Homebuyer Programs Available in Home Ownership Zone - In order to ensure that low and moderate-income families will be able to achieve the "American Dream" of owning their own home through the City's Home Ownership Zone Program, homebuyers programs which would assist these families in becoming new homeowners must also be available. Such programs would include the following:
Homebuyer Counseling Program - Homebuyer counseling is a vital component of any homeownership program. Prospective homebuyers would receive counseling and training in financial management, budgeting, mortgage financing, home maintenance and community improvement.
Down Payment/Closing Cost Assistance Program - Accumulating the required funds to make a down payment on the purchase of a home is often an insurmountable barrier for very low, low and moderate-income families. The City will continue to make down payment/closing cost assistance available to very low, low and moderate-income families through the State Housing Initiative Partnership Program and will provide funds in the form of grants or deferred loans.
Lease-Purchase Program - Implementation of a Lease-Purchase Program in order to eliminate one of the barriers to homeownership which may be experienced by potential homebuyers purchasing a newly constructed owner-occupied residential unit developed in the Home Ownership Zones is critical. The Lease-Purchase arrangement would afford a prospective homebuyer with an opportunity to purchase a home while simultaneously overcoming credit problems and/or the lack of insufficient funds required for down payment and/or closing costs. The Lease-Purchase Program would enable the City to qualify applicants who do not meet conventional mortgage lending criteria in order to purchase a home by allowing the family to lease the property first while clearing up their negative credit history prior to applying for a mortgage. The program would also provide the City working with the private, not-for-profit housing industry to insure the availability of potential homebuyers to consummate the purchase and/or occupancy of the new housing units being planned in the seven Home Ownership Zones.
First-Time Homebuyer Financial Programs - With the production goal of 1,000 new affordable homeownership housing units each year through the Home Ownership Zone Program, this program will continue to be a critical financing vehicle for assisting very low, low and moderate-income households into becoming homeowners. Presently, this program is funded through the City's Home and Ship programs which are designed to provide low-interest financing to first-time homebuyers in the form of a first or second mortgage for the purchase of new single family homes which are developed by private sector and not-for-profit community development corporations in the City. Applicants must be homebuyers or households that have not owned a home during the three year period prior to purchase with program funds.
HOUSING REVITALIZATION STRATEGY
While a major thrust of the Home Ownership Zone Program will focus on increasing the availability of affordable homeownership opportunities to very low, low and moderate-income families through public/private partnerships between the City, Miami-Dade County, private and not-for-profit housing industry and private financial institutions, housing deterioration continues to be a major problem due to the reluctance of private landlords to invest in the maintenance of older structures, and the inability of many older Miami residents to afford expensive home improvement repairs.
SINGLE FAMILY REHABILITATION PROGRAM
The major focus of the City's efforts over the next five years will emphasize a long-term homeownership strategy for stabilizing the City's predominately residential neighborhoods through the establishment of seven "Homeownership Zones" in the City, the need to ensure that the City's existing housing stock remains safe, decent, sanitary and affordable to both owner-occupants, the elderly and renters, through various rehabilitation activities, remains equally important.
Currently, the City's CDBG funded Single Family Rehabilitation Loan Program provides grants and/or low interest loans for the rehabilitation of single family properties (1-4 units) citywide. The CDBG funded Multifamily Rehabilitation Loan Program and HOME funded Multifamily Rehabilitation Program provide low interest loans and grants respectively to owner-investors of multifamily rental apartments (5 or more units) for the rehabilitation of such structures in the City's eight Community Development Block Grant target areas.
Not only should the City's current home improvement programs continue to be an important element of the City's overall Comprehensive Affordable Housing Revitalization Strategy, but the mission should be to make the program more "user friendly" relative to the elimination of bureaucratic red tape and less stringent underwriting requirements, especially in the cases which involves the provision of grant funds to the City's elderly population. Since a substantial number of the single family homes in the City fall below minimum housing quality standards (disrepair), and are owned by low and moderate-income homeowners who lack the financial capacity and/or credit history required to obtain home repair financing from private lenders, this program is a key element necessary to revitalize the City's neighborhoods.
Due to the number of persons living below the poverty level and the number of overcrowded and substandard housing units in the City, the Single Family Rehabilitation Program will be modified in order to address the higher cost of rehabilitating owner-occupied single family homes in the City, which are being experienced by the homeowners participating in the program. The program will be redesigned to provide home improvement assistance to homeowners throughout the City in the form of a grant to bring the property to a decent, safe and sanitary housing standard, and to correct all existing code violations. A maximum of up to $40,000 will be available to homeowner(s) that reside and maintain the property as their principal residence.
Eligible homeowners will receive a ten year deferred payment loan that will be reduced ten (10%) percent per year while the family continues to own and occupy the property. If the property is rented or sold during the ten year period, the balance of the loan must be paid back to the City of Miami. In the event of death of all eligible homeowners, the heirs to the property can assume the obligation of the original owner as long as the heirs remain owner-occupants of the property, and do not sell or rent the property for the remaining period of the deferred payment loan.
EMERGENCY GRANT/LOAN HOME IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Due to the deteriorating conditions of Miami's existing single family housing stock and deferred maintenance and repairs that have not been carried out by many of the City's fixed-income elderly homeowners, it is critical that the City establish an Emergency Grant/Loan HOME Improvement Program in order to address and correct certain hazardous conditions which endanger the health and safety of the occupants. The Emergency Grant/Loan HOME Improvement Program would allow the City to provide an emergency grant and/or loan to an eligible homeowner for carrying out limited emergency home repairs such as roofing, electrical, plumbing, etc. to immediately rectify hazardous and potentially hazardous conditions which, if not corrected, may endanger the health and safety of the occupants of the home. The maximum assistance available under this program will be $10,000 per household. The form of documentation required of the homeowner will be determined on a case by case basis depending on the severity of the emergency. The City of Miami will utilize the most accessible and most accurate documentation available that can help to establish household income eligibility, and that at the same time will allow the City to provide immediate financial assistance. This income documentation may be in the form of income taxes, pay stubs, letters of award from the Social Security Administration, or an affidavit or sworn statement from the family that they are income eligible. Households who are eligible for assistance under this program and require more extensive repairs will also be assisted under the City's Single Family Rehabilitation Loan Program, in order to bring the home into full compliance with County's Minimum Housing Quality Standards.
SINGLE FAMILY REPLACEMENT HOUSING PROGRAM
In addition to the implementation of an Emergency Grant/Loan HOME Improvement Program, the City will also establish and implement a Single Family Replacement Housing Program. This new program is designed to replace dilapidated owner-occupied housing units, which are not suitable for rehabilitation. This program would only be available to eligible homeowners who reside in homes where the most appropriate solution to their housing problem would be to demolish the existing home and replace it with a newly constructed house. This strategy would be employed on a case by case basis, when the cost of rehabilitating the existing home exceeds the maximum amount of $40,000 available under the City's Single Family Rehabilitation Loan Program. The maximum cost of demolishing the dilapidated structure and construction of the new home shall not exceed $65,000. An additional $3,000 per household would also be available to the homeowner to defray the cost of temporary relocation during the construction phase.
Assistance provided by the City of Miami to the homeowner will be provided in the form of a zero (0%) percent deferred, due on sale loan(s), with the entire remaining balance due and payable in full upon the sale, lease or transfer of title to the property. The loan will be secured through a recorded second mortgage lien, which will remain on the property as long as it is owned by the homeowner. The homeowner is required to reside in the house throughout the loan term.
MULTIFAMILY REHABILITATION PROGRAM
Over the next five years, limited funding and focus will be placed on the rehabilitation of multifamily apartment buildings in designated Home Ownership Zones. Although limited funding is being recommended to carry out multi-family rehabilitation activities, special attention and emphasis will focus on the expansion of the inventory of affordable housing in the Downtown or Central Business District through the development of new housing units and/or conversion of commercial/office buildings to housing reuse for all income groups. Over the past five years, several affordable housing projects have been completed by developers through the conversion of commercial/office buildings to residential reuse for low and moderate-income families and individuals. Completion of the Colon Building, Metropol Building, Olympia Building and the Congress Building in the Downtown target area is a prime example of the pent-up demand for affordable housing in the area. Over the next five years, the City will encourage property owners and investors to develop mixed-use projects containing various urban housing types that would emphasize and promote a livable downtown for persons of all income levels.
CODE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
Code enforcement activities will play a key role in improving the quality of life for residents of the Community Revitalization Districts. The City will continue to encourage the conservation of the City's current stock of low and moderate-income housing through ongoing neighborhood and area-wide inspections of residential housing units for severe violations to stimulate the rehabilitation of substandard units and/or demolition of unsafe structures. Continued funding of the Citywide Lot Clearing Program should also be encouraged, and efforts should be intensified to cite owners of overgrown lots that negatively impact neighborhoods throughout the City. Targeted code enforcement activities over the next five years is highly recommended in the seven Home Ownership Zones, which are being proposed in the neighborhoods of Allapattah, East Little Havana, Little Haiti, Model City, Overtown and West Coconut Grove.
OTHER AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP STRATEGIES
The establishment of Home Ownership Zones in several of the City's residential neighborhoods is just one aspect of the City's strategy to revitalize Miami's residential neighborhoods. While providing affordable homeownership opportunities to the City's very low, low and moderate-income families is paramount, the need to facilitate the return of middle class families to the City is equally critical and important for the revitalization of Miami's residential neighborhoods. Over the past ten years, the out-migration of middle and upper income families and individuals from the City of Miami to find more suitable and affordable housing outside the City's corporate limits has occurred at a time when the cost of providing city services have rapidly increased.
The City of Miami must be proactive and a facilitator in assisting and attracting middle class families to the in-migration, which has been experienced in a number of Miami's core residential neighborhoods. Not long ago the Miami's residential neighborhoods of Buena Vista, Edgewater, Spring Gardens and the Upper Eastside were in deep decline, and are now on the rebound with the influx of middle class homeowners that have restored their homes.
SINGLE FAMILY REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR MIDDLE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
In an attempt to attract middle and upper-income families into the City and its residential neighborhoods, a home improvement program, designed to provide financial assistance for the renovation of single family residential units in certain neighborhoods, will be implemented by the City utilizing non-federal funds. The program would provide low-interest loans of up to $35,000 for the rehabilitation of a single family home purchased by a middle class household, which would be the homeowner's principal residence. The funds would be provided to the homeowner at three (3%) for fifteen years. Funding from the City's 1976 General Obligation Housing Bonds and Affordable Housing Trust Fund would be made available to fund the program.