A housing advocacy group has released calculations on an estimated price tag of making a considerable dent in the housing affordability crisis gripping Miami-Dade County, at a time when it's considering a plan that could pump up to $800 million in affordable housing projects.
The magic number needed, just for starters: $1.5 billion.
The number, released in a report by the advocacy group Miami Homes For All, would be sufficient to finalize construction financing for a total of the 13,691 affordable housing units already “in the pipeline” for construction.
According to the group, the overall shortfall of affordable units for homes for households earning about $75,000 and under is 90,181.
“We have a really big opportunity today to close a significant gap in our affordable housing supply,” said Annie Lord, the executive director of the group. “But we need the financing of those units in order to make them a reality.”
The supply of housing for people in higher income brackets is significantly better, said Lord. Higher income earners are more likely to be able to pay market rents while only spending about 30% or less of their monthly income on housing. The worst of the affordable housing crisis falls on those in the lower income brackets.
“We have a really big opportunity today to close a significant gap in our affordable housing supply. But we need the financing of those units in order to make them a reality.”Annie Lord, the executive director of Miami Homes For All
Lord said Miami Homes For All was “pleasantly surprised” that most of the homes in the construction pipeline it identified fit that exact category.
“The pipeline aligns very beautifully with where the need is. It is a deeply affordable pipeline,” she said.
Miami Homes For All defines a project being in “the pipeline” as whenever a developer has control of the proposed construction site, and where they are actively seeking financing.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade has doubled funding for housing projects. Will it lower rents?
The report and estimated price tag have been released as the county government is pondering placing a $2.5 billion bond project before voters in November, of which an estimated $800 million would go towards affordable housing projects.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the intention to place the bond before voters during her State of the County Address in January.
“We must be braver and bolder than ever,” Levine Cava said in the address, delivered at Zoo Miami. “I have never stuck to the status quo. And neither have the people of Miami-Dade.”
The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has not yet taken up a discussion on the idea.
Lord said the proposed $800 million bond is significantly below the $1.5 billion required to fund affordable housing units in the pipeline, but would still be a “monumental improvement” from where things are now.
“It can be a first step,” said Lord. “As long as we’re in range, if we’re talking about numbers that are going to meaningfully move the needle, then we should feel that we are on the right path.”
The county government has already doubled the amount of money invested in affordable housing projects since the mayor came into office, from $128 million invested in early 2021 to $260 million in late 2023, as WLRN has previously reported. The costs of construction and labor has increased about 30 percent over that same timeframe, Director of Housing and Public Development Alex Ballina previously told WLRN.
The last General Obligation bond issued by the county was two decades ago, when voters passed the $2.9 billion Building Better Communities referendum in 2004. About $194 million of that bond went towards housing; much of the rest was spent on infrastructure projects like the Port Miami tunnel, roads, parks and sewers.
Projects in the pipeline
For its analysis identifying what projects are in the "pipeline," Miami Homes For All reviewed public data sets to find specific projects where developers have already applied for additional affordable housing financing from state of Florida and the federal government. Those state and federal programs often depend on some sort of local funding, and they ensure that projects keep rents below market rates as a condition of financing.
If the full $1.5 billion is pumped into developments already in the planning stages, the county could “unlock over $3.3 billion” in other bonds, federal tax credits and other forms of funding to make the projects a reality, said the report.
All together, the local, state and federal dollars could mean those planned projects can jump off paper and move towards actual construction.
“If we don’t act, we stand to not only delay solving the problem, but we could lose many of these deals,” said Lord. “They might never find the financing and everything they need in order to be realized, and those deals could convert to market rate projects instead of affordable projects.”
Other South Florida governments have passed bond referendums in recent years aimed at building more affordable housing projects. A total of $100 million of the City of Miami’s “Miami Forever” bond passed in 2017 was dedicated to housing.
Some advocates have questioned how the city is using the bond funding and how quickly the dollars are being spent, as WLRN has reported. Only $40.6 million of the dedicated $100 million pot for housing had been spent as of last year, while construction and labor costs have skyrocketed.
Voters in Palm Beach County passed a $200 million bond in 2022 to help fund affordable and workforce housing projects.
In 2018, voters in North Miami rejected a $120 million bond, of which a portion would have gone towards affordable housing development.
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