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Miami opens the way for Overtown project
By Ginelle G. Torres
Miami City Commissioners on Thursday approved a settlement with two developers the city had sued over construction disputes in the Overtown neighborhood that could open the door for a huge development in the long-neglected, predominantly black community.
The five commissioners voted unanimously to settle a legal dispute with the developers of Poinciana Village and Sawyer's Walk condominiums, a partially finished project just west of the Miami Arena that stalled in court. The vote will allow Crosswinds Communities, a Michigan-based developer, to begin building a $220 million project of 1,050 condominium town homes and apartments on city-owned land between the arena and Interstate 95.
Miami officials praised the project as key to the city's redevelopment plans for Overtown, which has suffered since the interstate dissected it decades ago.
"We need to bring the area back to where it can thrive, raise homeownership and make it the entertainment mecca it was decades ago," Mayor Manny Diaz said.
But while some residents support the project, others worry it will change the area's character through gentrification, making it difficult for longtime residents to afford a home.
Others are ambivalent.
"There has been delayed compensation to the area for years, and Overtown has a history of projects that are never completed," said Rene Garcia, who lives nearby.
If completed as planned within three years, the project would dramatically change the character of Overtown with homes, shops and offices. It would also help the city attract more middle-income residents to the area to help change Miami's status as one of the poorest cities in the country.
That worries black residents such as Willie Williams, who has lived in the area for 23 years.
"There aren't any rentals included in this project and no guarantee that jobs will be available for us," Williams said.
In response, Diaz promised the economic development spurred by the construction would help many of the 8,000 residents, most of whom live in government-assisted housing. Fewer than 40 businesses are there now, Diaz said.
Overtown thrived in the 1950s and 1960s, when it had 133,000 people and more than 400 businesses. After desegregation allowed many residents to move elsewhere and the interstate cut the neighborhood in two, it deteriorated.
Despite the ongoing efforts of city officials and developers to transform the city, according to Census figures released in August, nearly 28 percent of Miami's residents live below the poverty line.
City Commissioner Johnny Winton has said the Crosswinds project would raise property values.
But many residents are unhappy that even the most affordable of the project's homes would require buyers to have annual incomes of $40,000 to $60,000.
They say well-intentioned politicians could displace many current residents.
"It's an insult to our community," said Denise Perry, co-director of Power University, a group that advocates for justice and social change. "People won't be able to afford to live here."
Perry said the average household income in Overtown is $17,000.
With only 50 of the project's units designated for affordable housing -- at $130,000 each -- if property values skyrocket, many area residents could be forced to leave, she said.
The project is guaranteed to generate 160 jobs, but Perry notes most are construction jobs that will end when the project is completed.
Suspended Commissioner Arthur Teele likely would have raised such concerns.
But with Teele removed from City Hall because of the assault and bribery charges filed against him, there was no such hurdle, Perry said.
Commissioner Jeffery Allen, whom the commission selected to replace Teele, supports the project.
"It is time to usher a new era in development and job market opportunity to the area," Allen said. "It's beneficial to the residents and will bring back blacks to the area."
Perry said the commissioners appointed Allen to get the plan passed.
"This is why he is in office," she said. "He was chosen to do this and the project was never discussed openly with the community."
Many residents are skeptical of Allen and criticized him as a pawn of the mayor.
"Fifty units is not enough and we don't have any guarantees that we will benefit," said resident Amy Jackson. "We are looking to Allen for leadership and to put the money where his mouth is."
Winton said the plan is a good place to start turning the area around.
"I'm not saying one project is going to improve or solve all the problems in Overtown, but it's the first step to launch prosperity for people who have fought hard to create a new hope," he said.
Ginelle G. Torres can be reached at ggtorres@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5