LTC 119-2018 Miami Beach Community Development Corporation MarkeMJAM1BEACH
119-2018
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # LET ER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members c4 the City
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: February 28, 2018
SUBJECT: Miami Beach Community Development Corporation Market Rate Units
1#0m mission
The purpose of this Letter To Commission is to update the Mayor and Commission on
the decision by Miami Beach Community Development Corporation (MBCDC) to convert
the Crespi Park Apartments, an affordable housing development, into a market rate
rental property.
MBCDC, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, acquired the Crespi Park Apartments,
in July 1999. The City awarded MBCDC $1,170,000 of City HOME Investment
Partnership funds for the property's acquisition and rehabilitation. The 16 -unit property is
comprised of two buildings located at 79th Street and Crespi Boulevard.
The current MBCDC leadership inherited a variety of financial challenges stemming from
compliance failures by the agency's previous management team. As a result, MBCDC is
carrying a large debt Toad and significant capital and maintenance needs within its 340 -
unit portfolio that have severely strained the agency resulting in operating losses.
MBCDC's Executive Director, Beatriz Cuenca-Barberio, advised staff that the agency
had to make the difficult decision of converting the Crespi Park Apartments to market
rent in order to ensure the agency's survival. The building's tenants were advised of the
decision to increase rent in July 2017. Ms. Cuenca-Barberio advised that MBCDC does
not currently anticipate converting any other properties to market rate at this time.
In terms of the impact on the tenants, here is a summary of their status as of today:
• Five tenants have Section 8 housing vouchers managed by the Miami -Dade
County Housing Authority. Two of these have been offered alternate MBCDC
units as they have households of two or less persons. The remaining three are
looking for alternate housing.
• Four households, who do not have vouchers, have been offered alternate
MBCDC units.
• One tenant's household income exceeded $75,000 and found alternate housing
on his own.
• Four units are vacant as tenants relocated after being informed of the rent
increase.
• Three tenants are seeking alternate housing as MBCDC does not have any other
units available.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to see me.
JLM/KGB/MLR