Affordable housing being built in Village West

Construction on what will be one of six affordable, single-family homes on scattered sites in Village West, will begin this month; this was made possible with public funding. Known as Village West Homes, all the houses will be sold to income-eligible persons as their primary residence and must remain affordable to persons who are 80% of area median income for 30 years. The groundbreaking ceremony slated for this morning, May 5, was postponed due to inclement weather.

  

The Village West Homes project was allocated $1 million in City of Miami HOME (Federal) funding, administered by the City's Department of Community and Economic Development. Half of the property sites were purchased while the remainder were donated by Miami-Dade County and will be conveyed to the developer, NHSSF. Affordable residential development has historically been difficult in the neighborhood due to high land values and purchase prices, and much of its housing stock is old. The six Village West parcels - which are within several blocks of one another -- were identified after an extensive search of over 100 potential home sites in the area, including vacant and unsafe structures.

  

This is one of several affordable housing efforts the City of Miami is committed to in the West Grove area, including the completion of the elderly affordable rental project known as Gibson Plaza and the start of construction on another affordable rental building to be called Stirrup Plaza II.  

  

The Village West Homes will all feature three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and will incorporate Bahamian style façade features in keeping with the history of the West Grove area, established in the 1880s by Bahamian settlers making it South Florida's first Black settlement and one of its oldest neighborhoods. The homes will sell for a maximum of $238,000, as per U.S. HUD guidelines for the Miami area.