As luxury developments push out working-class Miami residents and reshape historically Black communities, one new apartment complex is looking to do just the opposite.
An affordable housing complex opened Friday in Overtown, the historically Black neighborhood north of downtown Miami. The $58 million project, which includes 120 income-restricted apartments, is in response to the region’s affordable housing crisis, its leaders say.
Dubbed “Courtside II,” the development will target residents earning 30% to 70% below the area median income. Monthly rents will begin at $683.
The project was spearheaded by developer Housing Trust Group alongside AM Affordable Housing — a nonprofit started by NBA Hall of Famer and Miami Heat legend Alonzo Mourning.
Courtside II arrives as high-cost developments spread throughout Miami-Dade County, particularly in the greater downtown area. Yet the county faces a shortfall of more than 90,000 affordable units for households earning below 80% of the area median income, according to a report from nonprofit Miami Homes For All.
“We have an obligation to make sure the people who have been a part of this community for generations, and are the backbone of this economy, can remain here,” said Housing Trust Group President and CEO Matthew Rieger at the complex’s grand opening Friday.
Since January 2020, rent in the metro area encompassing Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach has risen over 50%, Federal Reserve data show. And over half of Miami renters were cost-burdened, meaning they spent at least 30% of their income on rent each month, as of 2024. That’s more than other Florida cities like Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.
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This is the second affordable housing community Housing Trust Group and AM Affordable Housing are bringing to the neighborhood. In 2016, they cut the ribbon on Courtside I, an 84-unit development that took $22.8 million and 10 years to build.
Courtside II took another decade to unveil. It broke ground in December 2024 with a mix of public and private loans from groups including JP Morgan Chase and the Miami-Dade County Affordable Housing Surtax Program.
Mourning called it an emotional moment as he stood in the newly finished lobby of the complex. He has spent three decades investing in South Florida housing, and in 2003 helped found the Overtown Youth Center.
Mourning’s own experience in foster care guides his community outreach, he said.
“Overtown is a neighborhood with a proud history, strong people, a strong identity, a bright future,” Mourning said. “Of course, our apartment [complex], too, is honored to be a part of the future.”
Overtown originated as one of the few places where Black Miamians could live during the Jim Crow era. It gained a reputation as the “Harlem of the South” for its booming business and entertainment venues.
But when I-95 arrived in the late 1960s, thousands of Overtown residents were forced to relocate. The neighborhood population eventually dropped further, from 50,000 to around 10,000.
By contrast, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called Courtside II “the opposite of gentrification.”
“Gentrification is when you push the people out who make the community,” she said on Friday. “Making sure that they can afford to live here, even as wealth comes pouring in … that's what this project is about.”
Since the mayor declared a housing crisis in 2024, Miami-Dade has built 12,000 affordable workforce units and has 22,000 in the pipeline, Levine Cava said. She soon plans to roll out a new initiative that will bring the total to 47,000 units.
Courtside II is now accepting applicants.
