The city of Miami is taking Miami-Dade County to court over the county’s continued challenge to the creation and operation of the Allapattah Community Redevelopment Agency
The Miami city commission unanimously approved a resolution at its Thursday meeting finding that Miami-Dade County’s continued challenge to the Allapattah CRA significantly impairs the agency’s and the city’s ability to operate it and authorized the city attorney to take legal action against the county to seek judicial review of the agency’s creation and operation.
Miami Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela accused Miami-Dade County of trying to derail the creation of the Allapattah CRA after more than two years of work, saying the county raised objections at the “11th hour.” Gabela made the comments Thursday at a news conference ahead of the Miami city commission meeting.
Miami-Dade County recently argued that there are better ways to direct public funds toward Allapattah’s growth than through a CRA, according to a Sept. 11 letter. The county pointed to the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit program, a multibillion-dollar countywide mobility initiative, as one of its priorities.Gabela said the county had been notified twice about the city’s efforts and missed multiple deadlines of 120 days each before the city moved forward with establishing the CRA under state law.
Under the usual process, a dispute over competing policy priorities would trigger a joint hearing between city and county officials within 90 days in an effort to resolve their differences. But Thursday’s resolution waived that process and allowed Miami to move directly to litigation.
Miami commissioners approved the creation of the Allapattah CRA earlier this year following years of negotiations. Commissioners also approved a redevelopment plan calling for $243 million in investment over the agency’s 30-year lifespan, funded through tax-increment financing from properties within the 1,661-acre district. The plan allocates $90 million for infrastructure, $75 million for affordable housing, $45 million for economic development and $33 million for community facilities.
Gabela said the CRA is needed to address issues in Allapattah and surrounding areas, including affordable housing, infrastructure and security. He pointed to homelessness and the concentration of seniors living in the district as challenges that require additional resources. He added that the city is willing to negotiate with Miami-Dade but wants a substantive discussion rather than what he described as a delay tactic.
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, Miami commissioners unanimously approved $3.5 million in seed funding for the Allapattah CRA in Thursday’s meeting, with the money expected to be repaid to the city once the CRA begins generating revenue.
The funding was reduced from an initial $8 million request due to uncertainty over the city’s budget. Gabela said he agreed to take $3.5 million initially, with the possibility of seeking the remaining $4.5 million after the city closes out its fiscal year and has a clearer picture of its surplus funds.
The money is intended to help get the Allapattah CRA off the ground while the city continues its legal dispute with Miami-Dade County over the agency. City officials said the funding would be repaid through future CRA revenue rather than permanently coming out of the city’s general fund.
Allapattah has seen a growing wave of residential and mixed-use development, including Lissette Calderon’s Neology-developed 192-unit No. 17 Residences, 323-unit The Julia Residences and 237-unit Fourteen Main Street Residences, as well as Neology’s partnership with the Rubell family and Michael Simkins’ Lion Development Group on a three-phase residential project near the Rubell Museum.
Read more
Allapattah’s $800M blueprint: Inside Miami neighborhood’s redevelopment plan
Rubell family sells another Allapattah property to Neology JV for $24M
Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood provides $64M refi for Lissette Calderon’s Allapattah project
