Rene Rodriguez and Alex Harris with the Miami Herald outline a new collaborative plan being used to create and preserve affordable housing along the rail path throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The plan, titled “South Florida’s Housing Link Collaborative,” will use a three-year, $5 million investment by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to seed newly constructed rentals and upgrade existing units.
The $5 million investment is projected to leverage as much as $75 million of external capital from investors, lenders and government sources. Those may include the City of Miami’s $400 million Miami Forever resiliency bond, which has earmarked $100 million specifically towards housing, or the Miami-Dade County Affordable Housing Surtax.
The funds will be used to build 150 new affordable rental units and renovate another 150 existing affordable units. The money will also be used to buy vacant or underutilized land along the railway line. Also, 200 improvement loans will be granted to existing homeowners to upgrade their residences for energy efficiency and resiliency.
Read more here.
