Swerdlow Proposes Massive Public Housing Project in Miami

Swerdlow Group is proposing a massive, mixed-use public housing project spanning 65 acres along Miami’s Little River and Little Haiti neighborhoods. The development could cost $2.6 billion and create nearly 5,000 workforce and affordable housing units.

Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group responded to Miami-Dade County’s request for proposals to redevelop and expand four public housing projects, according to the Miami Herald. The entire project would include private land and would be mostly privately financed. It could take nearly a decade to complete. Arquitectonica was tapped to design the project.

Swerdlow Proposes Massive Public Housing Project in Miami — Renderings of the planned project (Arquitectonica)

Swerdlow, led by Michael Swerdlow, submitted plans in November, and the county is in a “cone of silence.” County officials and the developer would likely negotiate an agreement before a project like this would go before the commission for a vote. Under a federally funded program, existing residents of the complexes that would be demolished and replaced would be able to live in the new projects at the same rents.

Swerdlow would work with AJ Capital Partners, which owns a majority stake in a 27-acre portfolio of land in Little River. Swerdlow told the newspaper that it is one of the largest redevelopments planned in Miami.

In addition to building new housing, the project also calls for retail, including a Home Depot, and 700,000 square feet of parks and green space. It would span two to five blocks wide, west from I-95 to Northeast Second Avenue.

Included in the nearly 5,000 proposed units are about 1,400 affordable units for low to very low income households; and roughly 3,500 income-restricted workforce housing apartments, for residents earning no more than 120 percent of the county’s median income.

Swerdlow would use federal tax credits to finance the affordable housing components. The developer’s proposal also hinges on the creation of a special taxing district to pay for infrastructure improvements.

— Katherine Kallergis