Miami’s housing crisis is among the worst in the nation, with more than 60 percent of South Florida residents spending over a third of their incomes on housing. Omni CRA is investing in a number of strategies to prevent displacement and homelessless and make housing more attainable.

16 Corner, our first multi-family mixed-income housing affordability project, leveraged a public-private partnership to preserve historic 1950s garden apartments. Aging and in disrepair, the buildings were up for sale at a price that most likely would have led to demolition and speculation or a rent increase, if left to private market factors. 

Through a partnership with 16 Corner, LLC, a group composed of developer Avra Jain’s Vagabond Group, and Mt. Zion CDC, all 44 units in the complex’s five two-story buildings are being gutted and rehabbed, with improvements such as new roofs, plumbing, electrical wiring, new air conditioning units, kitchens, windows and landscaping.

A significant undertaking, the first building was completed just months after initiation in early 2019, allowing residents to move back in as early as May 2019. Benefitting from stabilized rents, tenants are able to keep their homes and enjoy safer, healthier housing. 

The project is evidence that collaborative cost-sharing can help to alleviate Miami’s affordable housing crisis. By rehabbing existing structures to high standards and keeping rents low, Omni CRA was able to provide high-quality housing without displacement or loss to the integrity of the community fabric. The 16 Corner project provides a successful template that can be replicated elsewhere in the community.