Developers could add more density to mixed-income multifamily projects in Hialeah, if they set aside units for low-income residents.
On Wednesday, the Hialeah City Council will hold a first reading vote on an ordinance that would boost development sites, by allowing 100 units per acre instead of the current 70 units per acre. The catch? Developers would have to set aside 15 percent of apartments for tenants who earn up to 60 percent of Miami-Dade County’s area median income of $79,400, under a measure proposed by Hialeah councilman Jesus Tundidor.
“We were able to come up with a decent blueprint,” Tundidor told The Real Deal. “We figured this is the best way to move forward.”
The proposed ordinance is the result of feedback city officials received from an affordable housing task force primarily made up of Miami-Dade County developers that the city council convened last year, Tundidor said. Task force members included David Martin, who leads Coconut Grove-based Terra; Albert Milo, president of Coconut Grove-based Related Urban; Michael Wohl, co-founder of Kendall-based Pinnacle Housing Group; and Miami-Dade County housing chief Alex Ballina, who is leaving his government job this month to launch a private firm.
The idea for a task force was sparked by Florida’s Live Local Act, which allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations to build massive mixed-use projects that set aside 40 percent of apartments for residents who earn up to 120 percent of a county’s area median income, or AMI, Tundidor said.
“Live Local is great for places like Coral Gables, Doral and more affluent areas,” Tundidor said. “For places like Hialeah, rents at 120 AMI [are] market-rate. I think it does more harm than good.”
In addition to giving developers 100 units per acre, Hialeah would also offer parking reductions under the proposed ordinance. For example, a developer would not have to build parking spaces for studios, and only one parking space instead of 1.5 parking spaces per one-bedroom apartment.
Developers can opt out of setting aside the 15 percent of units by paying into a city affordable housing fund, the proposed ordinance states. Hialeah would charge developers $30,000 for each affordable housing unit that would have been part of a project.
“Let’s say a developer pays into the fund and builds a project with all market-rate apartments,” Tundidor said. “If a resident wants to rent a unit in that project, but can’t afford $2,000 for a one-bedroom and can only pay $1,200 a month, that resident can apply for a subsidy, and the city will cover the balance.”
Residents would be eligible for the rental assistance program for up to three years, Tundidor said.