Land owned by the Archdiocese of Miami will be turned into a 150-unit affordable housing complex, after the developer scored a $42.3 million construction loan for the project.
Smith & Henzy Advisory Group is building the St. Joseph Manor II Apartments on 8.3 acres at 1200 Northwest Sixth Avenue, according to a notice of construction commencement filed to Broward County last week. Bank of America issued a $34 million loan, and the Housing Finance Authority of Broward County provided $8.3 million toward the capital stack.
The Archdiocese of Miami leases the site to Smith & Henzy.
Led by Darren Smith and Timothy Henzy, the Delray Beach-based development firm has a portfolio of 6,000 affordable units, both built and preserved, according to its website. Smith and Henzy founded the firm in 2014.
In December, Smith & Henzy bailed on a controversial affordable housing proposal in New York’s Sag Harbor, citing financial headwinds, according to 27East. The Federal Reserve has been consistently increasing interest rates since March of last year. Smith & Henzy was charged with finding financing for the 79-unit project. The development also irked some Sag Harbor property owners who took issue with the development’s size.
Pompano Beach has caught the eyes of residential developers in recent years. In December, nonprofit Broward Partnership for the Homeless and Green Mills scored approval for an up to 138-unit affordable rental project at 1700 Blount Road.
Across South Florida, affordable housing development proposals have seemingly spiked. The region is considered one of the nation’s “most competitive” apartment markets, meaning more residents vie for the same unit than the nationwide average.
Expensive construction financing has stalled market-rate apartment construction. But affordable housing developers often bankroll their projects with federal funds that come at usually lower interest rates and sometimes with incentive fees for developers.
More low-income projects are expected, as Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed into law a plan to pump $711 million into affordable housing programs that bankroll projects and incentivize developers with major tax breaks.