Speaker: Jose Fernandez General Topic: Redevelopment of Little Havana

Even though I have lived in South Florida all my life, I had never been to Little Havana before this site visit. It was an interesting perspective to get the opportunity to arrive and immediately be able to learn from some of the people working to re-develop it. We spoke with Mauricio and Jose; both very familiar with the area, while having slightly different takes on where it is today and will be tomorrow. They spoke about how Little Havana is in the center of all of the new developments such as Brickell, Wynwood, and Downtown.   While there is a new supply of product coming currently in the pipeline, it isn’t meeting the demands for more affordable products.

The area of Little Havana is surrounded by some of the highest rents and property values in Miami-Dade County. As they are working to re-develop Little Havana, this is something that has to be kept in mind, in order to preserve the community that lives there. Currently most of the rents are well below market averages and are kept there through tax credits and other things afforded to the landlords of affordable housing products. It will be interesting to see what the future holds in Little Havana, including the impacts of this new infusion of development taking place. Developers are in a difficult situation where they must maintain a delicate balance of ensure new projects profitability, while also not completely disrupting and displacing the community there today. Jose noted that South Beach was a hot spot for crime in Miami up until the 80s when a revitalization and redevelopment occurred. There rents skyrocketed and land became some of the most valuable in the area. While this exact transformation will not likely be duplicated, a displacement similar to the one that occurred in South Beach could happen if re-development isn’t done in a way to preserve it. I feel that with Miami-21’s new code, where the taller mixed-use and walk able areas will be on the outskirts of the neighborhood, a proper balance will exist to help maintain the community while still revitalizing it.