A non-profit group won approval to develop as many as 138 income-restricted apartments behind a homeless assistance center in an industrial part of Pompano Beach.
The Broward Partnership for the Homeless plans to build the apartments in a joint venture with Green Mills LLC, a Fort Lauderdale-based developer of affordable and workforce housing.
Typical monthly rents for the planned apartments would be $952 for a studio, $1,020 for a one-bedroom unit, and $1,225 for a two-bedroom, Mitch Rosenstein, founder and principal of Green Mills, told the Pompano Beach City Commission at its meeting on Tuesday.
Half of the planned apartments will be set aside for people at risk of becoming homeless or who previously were homeless, Rosenstein said.
The 3-acre development site is part of 7-acre property at 1700 Blount Road in Pompano Beach, where the Broward Partnership has operated the North Homeless Assistance Center under contract with Broward County since 2019.
Representatives of the Broward Partnership said developing affordable apartments in an industrial area can put tenants within walking distance of jobs. The site is surrounded by industrially zoned property, including a UPS ground delivery station to the west, trucking warehouses to the east and north, and a Broward County highway maintenance yard to the south.
“By putting housing closer to jobs, we actually help people find more affordable housing, because they’re not spending 19 percent of their income on transportation,” said Debbie Orshefsky of Holland & Knight, an attorney for Broward Partnership.
The Pompano Beach City Commission voted Tuesday to rezone the 3-acre development site behind the homeless assistance center from “community facility” (CF) to “general business” (B3). The city commission also voted to change the land use designation of the entire 7-acre property from industrial to commercial. The commission gave preliminary approval to both the rezoning and land use change on Nov. 8.
Broward County owns the entire property and plans to convey the development site to the Broward Partnership for the Homeless, which is working with Green Mills to develop up to 138 income-restricted apartments.
Eligibility for the units, planned as permanent housing, will be limited to “very low- and low-income individuals,” the Broward Partnership reported in its development application to the city.
“This will not have anybody who makes over $60,000 [a year]. Most of them are going to make under $40,000 and $50,000,” Dodie Keith-Lazowick, CEO of civil engineering firm Keith and former chair of the Broward Partnership for the Homeless, told city commissioners Tuesday. “Most of the affordable housing that you [city commissioners] approve around here is for people who make $80,000 or more.”
Keith-Lazowick also said the rezoning and land use change will show crucial local support when the Broward Partnership and Green Mills apply to the Florida Housing Finance Corp. for an allocation of federal low-income housing tax credits, which they plan to use to finance their project.
Commissioner Barry Moss, who cast the only ‘no’ vote against the rezoning and land use change, said the planned apartments will become “transitional and rehabilitative” residential units instead of permanent housing.
“This is placing vulnerable people in a place where they will not succeed,” Moss said. “This is not close to grocery stores. This is not close to pharmacies … This is not going to be near any of the services they need.”