New PACE space is all about going green

The space was once Palm Produce clothing, then it turned into the Hunter Art Gallery. I watched as Jim Hunter turned it into a gallery and daily, I have now seen the transformation into the Green Corridor District Energy Center headquarters, known as PACE. It's the first place you see at the Mayfair Atrium. It's all new and squeaky clean. All the wood on the walls is reconstituted oak that comes from old barns and things like that.

Seven Miami-Dade municipalities came together to form PACE. The city of Miami, which of course includes Coconut Grove, Miami Shores, Coral Gables, South Miami, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, and Cutler Bay are included.

"PACE is a relatively new law which allows for municipalities to finance hurricane protection measures, renewable energy projects, and energy efficiency retrofits for private property owners - both commercial and residential," says Joe Spector, Vice President of Operations for Ygrene Energy Fund Florida, LLC. Ygrene was selected by the seven municipalities to administrate the program on their behalf.

The funds can then be repaid by the property owner as an assessment on the property tax bill over extended periods of time...up to 20 years. The single biggest obstacle to people being able to make their properties more efficient or better protected against hurricanes is the upfront cost of the upgrades. This program now allows property owners to do these types of things with no out-of-pocket expense.

"It is a perfect example of a public-private partnership in which we use the municipality's power to place assessments on the property tax bill while we bring private funds to pay for the financing, marketing, and administration of the program.  It doesn't cost the cities a dime. We manage everything and pay for everything," says Joe.

So as you walk by the PACE space, stop in, it's purpose is to serve as a community education center. It's a place where local organizations can use for meetings or education -- a place where property owners can come to learn about new technologies or ask questions about the different options out there. It's a place where contractors are trained on how the program operates and how to use the special software so that they can actually offer the financing to the property owners themselves. 

The PACE space isn't quite finished yet, soon displays will pop up of different types of things that property owners can do to make their properties more efficient.

There will be a ribbon cutting and party soon. We'll keep you posted. Their Facebook page is here if you would like to be updated often.