Latest news with #LiveLocal
CTV News
23-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Three Proudly Canadian Vendors
Ottawa Watch We're kicking off our Live Local Proudly Canadian Shopping Spree with vendors you won't want to miss.
Miami Herald
13-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Law aimed to fast-track housing. Two years in, Miami-Dade sees first modest project
Two years after it was first approved, the controversial Live Local Act, a state law designed to fast-track housing construction across Florida by overriding local density limits, is about to deliver its first project in Miami-Dade County. It's not what you may be expecting. Instead of the splashy, zoning-busting high-rise proposals that have set off political and court battles across South Florida, Beacon Hill at Princeton is modest in scale and scope: Three-story garden-style buildings with a total of 112 rental apartments, all of them affordable to people making a middle-class income. But its developers are doing something that no other Live Local proposal in Miami-Dade has managed to accomplish so far: They are actually ready to start construction. In doing so, developers Matthew Martinez and David Rothenstein say, the $20 million Beacon Hill at Princeton may provide a model for making the law work the way it was sold to the public — expanding the supply of so-called 'workforce' housing in urban areas where exploding costs have made renting a home unaffordable for many middle-income workers. The developers say their project, on South Dixie Highway just north of Homestead, is the first in the county to be fully conceived, designed and approved under Live Local that's ready to go. Unlike numerous other proposals that have yet to get off the ground, their development did not seek to supersize under Live Local and has no market-rate apartments, keeping cost lows with simple, low-rise designs. By focusing on Live Local's generous tax breaks and other incentives instead, they say, they were able to preserve relative affordability while still projecting a healthy return on their investment. The project is privately financed. 'What we've tried to do at Beacon Hill is create and develop workforce housing for the missing middle that adheres to the spirit of the legislation,' Martinez, president of Coral Gables-based Beacon Hill Property Group, said. 'We want to provide good, safe financially attainable housing for people who make our communities work and function.' Added Rothenstein, Beacon Hill's managing director: 'We're making a little dent in this huge need. We're using it for exactly what it was meant for, to add workforce housing, not market-rate housing.' Beacon Hill's Princeton project broke ground with a ceremony June 6. The developers expect completion by late next year, with monthly rents ranging from $1,700 to $1,900 for a one-bedroom apartment, and between $2,100 and $2,300 for a two-bedroom. To qualify, renters must meet income caps set at no more than 120 percent of the county's median household income, or about $95,000. But the developers and even some Live Local backers warn not to expect a flood of projects, at least not yet. Originally approved by the Florida Legislature in 2023, the Live Local Act allows mixed-use projects in commercial and industrial districts to exceed limits on local density and height zoning rules so long as developers set aside 40 percent of residential units for workforce housing. Under Live Local, championed among others by Florida GOP Rep. Vicki Lopez of Miami, municipal and county authorities are obligated to approve a proposal that qualifies without public hearings or review. The law, which received overwhelming bipartisan support, also provides significant breaks on property taxes and impact fees paid by developers, while earmarking millions of dollars in state funds for housing development over 10 years — lucrative provisions that have not received the attention that the law's zoning pre-emption measures have. The idea was to allow developers to build more profitable market-rate apartments using greater height and density while providing financial support to balance out the lower rents for workforce tenants. Backers said they expected the law to quickly result in development of low- to mid-rise buildings, or up to about eight stories, because construction costs and complications rise substantially above that height, likely making high-rise Live Local proposals hard to finance and slow to receive building permits. Speculation over construction Instead, the law has so far most conspicuously produced what some critics have said is an avalanche of speculation by developers across South Florida who rushed to propose complex skyscraper projects with hundreds of market-rate and even luxury apartments in addition to the desired workforce units. In many cases the contemplated towers would far exceed the previously allowed height and density in municipalities from Hollywood to Doral, Bal Harbour and Miami Beach, prompting an uproar from residents and setting off some high-profile legal battles. Earlier this year, the latest in a series of amendments to the Live Local law designed get projects moving could lead to the demolition of historic Miami Beach buildings, including its famed Art Deco buildings, for skyscrapers. Backers note that the need for so-called workforce housing is acute across much of the state. But some skeptics say Live Local's zoning and financial measures provide developers outsize benefits while delivering little comparable relief for the county's housing crisis, which is concentrated among low-income families that cannot afford workforce rents, and saddling communities with traffic and other infrastructure impacts and costs they have not planned for. Whereas Miami-Dade has a shortfall of some 17,000 workforce homes, the gap for low-income housing — defined as households making under 80 percent of the area median income — sits at 90,000 units, said Annie Lord, executive director of Miami Homes for All, a research and advocacy organization. 'What you're getting in exchange,' she said of Live Local's benefits for developers, 'it's just dwarfed by that five-to-one gap in affordable housing.' While some of those high-rise, high-density projects have been approved, not one has begun or announced the start of construction. Local resistance to Live Local The poster child is perhaps a contested proposal from the owners of a dying Sears store on Coral Way, on the Miami side of the border with suburban Coral Gables, that drew strenuous opposition from the residents of the abutting, low-scale Coral Gate neighborhood. The developers' plan would put three eight-story buildings and 1,050 apartments on the already traffic-clogged intersection of Douglas Road and Coral Way, a historic road that can't be altered. In May, after the city of Miami, adhering to Live Local's rules, approved the project with no hearing or chance for public input, owner Ranaan Katz, one of the original partners in the Miami Heat, promptly put the eight-acre property — its value now multiplied by Live Local — up for sale for a reported $100 million-plus. The Miami-Dade tax appraiser's website puts the property's market value at $37.7 million. A leading Live Local expert in Miami, land-use lawyer Javier Avino, said he believes there is a shake-up going on as developers realize large-scale projects under the law may be unfeasible, at least for now, given high interest rates and land, insurance and construction costs. Avino, a partner and land-use lawyer at Bilzin Sumberg, noted that some chief beneficiaries of Live Local to date have been affordable housing projects already under development or construction that ran into difficulties because of rising costs. Several received significant low-interest loans from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a state agency, under Live Local to finish projects. One since-completed project by a Bilzin client, Cymbal DLT's Laguna Gardens in Miami Gardens, initially a market-rent project, fully retooled before construction was finished to accommodate Live Local's income limits for all 341 units and qualify for its tax and financial incentives. Also making progress, Avino said, are several proposals by Related Urban, the affordable housing arm of the giant Related Group, that take advantage of Live Local's zoning hikes. But those have the advantage of using public land under publicly bid agreements with the county housing agency — a massive cost savings other most private projects don't enjoy. Bilzin represents Related Urban. 'There's always going to be the reality that some folks try and entitle for highest and best use without truly committing to actually doing the development,' Avino said. 'The reality is that the ones we are seeing truly progress are the ones that provide enough of an incentive to pencil out financially. It's not going to be something that goes from 100 to 1,001 units of development. If you supersize something, it's going to create a slew of other issues that really become cost-prohibitive. 'In 2023 we saw a lot of exploration. What we're seeing now is a balancing out. Some people are seeing it doesn't make sense for me.' Breaks on taxes, impact fees The Beacon Hill developers said they found Live Local useful not for its zoning breaks, but for tax and other financial incentives. Beacon Hill, which got its start in Boston before moving to South Florida, has experience with affordable housing. It has built federally subsidized Section 8 housing, in which the government pays a portion of the rent for low-income families and individuals. But Live Local incentives made it advantageous for Beacon Hill to switch their model to workforce housing, its principals said. The Live Local financial benefits include a substantial 75 percent to 100 percent reduction in property taxes once a development is occupied, depending on tenants' incomes. To qualify, a project must have at least 70 workforce units. Impact fees to local governments, funds typically used to make street and sewer improvements, for instance, can also be reduced, by 80 percent. There's also a $5,000 rebate on sales tax per workforce unit on building materials. ·'I've heard market-rate developers tell me the big plus of Live Local is ultimately going to be the tax breaks,' Lord, of Miami Homes for All, said. But Lord warns that even the tax breaks are not yet proving to be a magic formula, either. That's because banks and other lenders have been loath to provide financing based on the promise of those breaks, which are not approved until a project is completed and may need to be periodically recertified. 'That is a major barrier to Live Local scaling up,' she said. Counting on the breaks, Beacon Hill bought a 2.6-acre parcel for $2.55 in cash in 2024 in unincorporated Princeton, and designed a workforce project to slot into existing mixed-use zoning enacted by the county years ago to urbanize the unincorporated Princeton area, once a rural stop along Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway. Hit hard by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the loss of surrounding agriculture, Princeton has been a piece of what some long-time residents called the Dead Zone, a socially and economically depressed stretch of South Dixie north of Homestead. That's changing quickly. The search for less expensive and available land on which to build homes has led developers to the South Dixie corridor as the county gets set to open the new rapid-bus South Dade TransitWay that replaces the old busway and occupies the original route of the Flagler rail line. 'We think this is a phenomenal area for people to live,' Martinez said. To encourage housing development along the 20-mile-long TransitWay, which features 14 stations serving express buses that get green lights all the way at rush hour, the county has enacted special zoning districts that allow greater height and density, drawing dozens of new apartment projects to the area. That has meant both market-rate and workforce housing developments that are subsidized by a complex formula that relies on federal tax credits and low-cost state financing. The Beacon Hill project sits about a block and a half from a TransitWay station, But the developers said they sought no upzoning under the county's rapid-transit district rules, which provide flexibility for greater density along its SMART corridors, often in exchange for public benefits such as inclusion of workforce housing. Martinez said he found the Live Local financial incentives and the expedited planning review a better alternative to the traditional workforce approach. That faster approval can save a developer valuable months or even years, he said, but cautioned that it still took a year for the county to issue all necessary permits. Without Live Local, the Princeton project would not have been feasible financially, Martinez and Rothenstein said. 'Without it, we couldn't get to the return on capital that we need,' Rothenstein said. 'The reduction in taxes is what made this deal pencil out.' The approach has proven so promising that the partners are now planning 1,500 new workforce apartments using the model across South Florida. All will be in a similar garden style and scale to the Princeton development, which they say is the most efficient and cost-effective way to produce workforce housing. They are already working on a new Miami Gardens development. But they cautioned not to expect a flood of Live Local apartments to come on the market, however. Building and other permits for construction still take time. 'The supply is still going to take time due to the nature of having to deal with so many permits,' Martinez said.
Miami Herald
03-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Do Miami Beach residents want Metromover? A new poll enters the fight
Miami Beach's elected leaders oppose extending Metromover service to South Beach — but the city's residents strongly support the county transit project, according to a new tax-funded poll. The survey comes from a county transit board that has long championed a 'Baylink' transit line connecting downtown Miami to the Beach. Conducted by Bendixen & Amandi, a Miami polling firm, the survey found 79% of Miami Beach residents support a mass-transit link to the mainland. While 40% of residents surveyed weren't aware of the $1 billion Metromover proposal, the plan had the 'strong' support of 67% of those who knew about it. The Citizens' Independent Transit Trust paid $22,500 in transportation dollars to fund the poll of 400 Beach residents about the Metromover proposal that the Miami Beach City Commission voted to oppose in early 2024. The vote followed harsh pushback against the county proposal, with Miami Beach residents of a luxury condo tower off the potential elevated transit system chanting 'Stop the Train!' at a 2023 town hall in South Beach. 'The vocal few have been very active,' said Meg Daly, a member of the county's Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust, an oversight board for Miami-Dade's half-percent transportation sales tax. The board held a May 14 workshop on the survey results, which Daly called 'very strong' and demonstrated to her that the average Miami Beach resident wants Metromover even if they're not rallying for it. 'A lot of people don't show up and speak up,' she said. Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez was the sponsor of the 2024 resolution urging Miami-Dade to pursue a rapid-transit bus line to the Beach instead of Metromover. In an interview this week, he said the survey results seem to miss some of the complexities of the debate — including concerns that a Metromover line would likely bring the kind of looser zoning rules that the county can impose around some transit lines. 'Of course we all want public transportation,' Fernandez said. 'My concern is about the upzoning it could potentially bring.' He cited Miami Beach's uphill battle against residential towers now authorized by Florida's Live Local law and said the city wouldn't want to face another zoning problem in South Beach's historic neighborhoods. Keith Marks, president of the South of Fifth Neighborhood Association, said the survey failed to present a full picture of the potential downsides for a Metromover extension from downtown Miami to where the MacArthur Causeway meets Fifth Street in South Beach. 'People are not against mass transportation,' he said. 'When they hear about the cost, the disruption and where it's gonna go specifically, they are not in favor of it.' The survey found that while most Miami Beach residents aren't using public transportation now, 65% of those polled said they'd likely use a Miami to Miami Beach Metromover route once built. Nearly half said they'd likely use it a few times a week, and 13% would use it daily. Even if it's ultimately approved, Miami-Dade remains years away from that possibility, with the latest Baylink effort already well behind the schedule the county's mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, laid out when she announced the effort in late 2022. At the time, the county was pursuing a $1.3 billion monorail line to South Beach under a plan championed by the prior mayor, Carlos Gimenez. In ditching the monorail plan for the proposed Metromover extension, Levine Cava cited rising costs from the monorail proposal and the advantages of extending a transit system that already runs throughout Miami. She and Commissioner Eileen Higgins, chair of the county's Transportation committee, announced the shift to Metromover in a joint video and promised a County Commission vote by 2024. That hasn't happened, the latest missed target in a Baylink effort that Miami-Dade started pursuing in the 1980s. In a statement, Higgins, now a candidate for mayor in the city of Miami, said the original timeline was delayed as Miami-Dade answers questions from Florida's Department of Transportation, which controls the MacArthur Causeway and other roadways around the project. 'I look forward to the State approving this project soon so we can get residents moving,' she said.
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
50-story buildings on South Beach? Affordable housing bill needs carve out for this city
Editorials 50-story buildings on South Beach? Affordable housing bill needs carve out for this city | Opinion South Beach's historic Art Deco District. Miami The new version of Florida's controversial Live Local Act — meant to get local regulations out of the way for the construction of affordable housing — risks opening the flood gates to rampant development in Miami Beach if lawmakers don't keep exceptions for the city. Think of South Beach lined with buildings as tall as 50 stories. That's how Commissioner Alex Fernandez described the impact of legislation the Florida Senate passed with a 36-0 vote this month. So far, the Senate and House differ on their versions of legislation to fine tune the 2023 Act. The law gave developers the ability to bypass local height and density regulations in certain cases if they are building rental projects where 40% of units meet certain affordability requirements. Local not-in-my-backyard policies have historically stymied efforts to build more multi-family projects that are affordable for working and middle-class residents. But the jury is still out on whether the law will actually help address South Florida's lack of housing options for those who aren't wealthy, or if it will be better for developers trying to circumvent community wishes for controlled development. In 2023, for example, the owners of the iconic Clevelander Hotel and Bar on Ocean Drive announced they were planning to use the Live Local Act to redevelop the property into a multi-story tower. Now, Miami Beach is again at the center of what will happen with the new version of Live Local. The House has moved a bill sponsored by Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, that creates an important exemption for the city. The Senate so far has not done the same. The legislation does many things to make it easier for developers to build projects that contain affordable housing. For example, the bill requires local governments to reduce parking requirements for those projects and to allow the construction of accessory dwelling units, also known as efficiencies, in single-family neighborhoods. Here's the part that matters the most to Miami Beach — and is especially alarming to Miami Beach officials: The legislation expands what state law defines as properties zoned for 'commercial' uses to include those where building a hotel, restaurant or retail would be allowed, which covers a good portion of Miami Beach, including neighborhoods with older apartment buildings, according to Fernandez. Those two-to-three-story buildings are the last vestiges of affordability in the city. That's important for two reasons: First, the Live Local Act already allows commercial land to be used for for mixed-use or residential multi-family rental projects that surpass height and density limits as long as affordability standards are met. Second, unless there's an exemption for the city, the Live Local Act would allow developers to demolish — without city approval — historic buildings in the famous Art Deco Historic District, 'replacing iconic, low-scale, two- and three-story historic buildings with modern high-rise towers and forever erasing the architecture that defines the city's identity and drives its economy,' the city wrote in a news release. Also affected would be historic neighborhoods such as Flamingo Park and North Shore. Those historic buildings could be knocked down and replaced with towers as tall as what's allowed within a one-mile radius of a construction site on the Beach — in the most extreme cases, more than 500 feet, or 50 stories, according to the city. 'It would turn South Beach into Manhattan,' Fernandez told the Herald Editorial Board. The House version (House Bill 943) would protect buildings within a historic district that was listed in the National Register of Historic Places before Jan. 1, 2000. That would include hundreds of buildings in South Beach's Art Deco District, Fernandez said. The bill would also require city approval for the demolition of structures that have been classified, as of July 2023, as 'contributing' in a local government's historic properties database. There's a caveat: The demolition of the rear part of a building abutting or facing an alley would not require a public hearing. That still means that 2,600 historic properties, according to the city, would have some type of protection on the Beach compared to the Senate version. The House is scheduled to hear its version on Tuesday. With the legislative session expected to end this week, a compromise needs to happen soon on behalf of a city whose historic architecture is a major economic and tourism driver. Click here to send the letter. BEHIND THE STORY MORE What's an editorial? Editorials are opinion pieces that reflect the views of the Miami Herald Editorial Board, a group of opinion journalists that operates separately from the Miami Herald newsroom. Miami Herald Editorial Board members are: opinion editor Amy Driscoll and editorial writers Luisa Yanez and Isadora Rangel. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right. What's the difference between an op-ed and a column? Op-Eds, short for 'opposite the editorial page,' are opinion pieces written by contributors who are not affiliated with our Editorial Board. Columns are recurring opinion pieces that represent the views of staff columnists that regularly appear on the op-ed page. How does the Miami Herald Editorial Board decide what to write about? The Editorial Board, made up of experienced opinion journalists, primarily addresses local and state issues that affect South Florida residents. Each board member has an area of focus, such as education, COVID or local government policy. Board members meet daily and bring up an array of topics for discussion. Once a topic is fully discussed, board members will further report the issue, interviewing stakeholders and others involved and affected, so that the board can present the most informed opinion possible. We strive to provide our community with thought leadership that advocates for policies and priorities that strengthen our communities. Our editorials promote social justice, fairness in economic, educational and social opportunities and an end to systemic racism and inequality. The Editorial Board is separate from the reporters and editors of the Miami Herald newsroom. How can I contribute to the Miami Herald Opinion section? The Editorial Board accepts op-ed submissions of 650-700 words from community members who want to argue a specific viewpoint or idea that is relevant to our area. You can email an op-ed submission to oped@ We also accept 150-word letters to the editor from readers who want to offer their points of view on current issues. For more information on how to submit a letter, go here.
Miami Herald
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Legislature restores some protection for historic districts after backlash from Miami Beach
Reacting to a backlash from Miami Beach, the Florida Legislature restored some protections for historic buildings and districts like the famed Art Deco District as it approved a controversial expansion of the Live Local Act on Thursday. The state Senate and House had passed companion versions of the legislation that Beach officials and preservationists said would have had devastating consequences, allowing developers to freely demolish historic buildings without interference from local government or any meaningful review. Live Local allows developers to override local limits on height and density if they set aside apartments in a project for so-called 'workforce' housing. The new language, incorporated into both versions of the legislation before final approval, specifies that developers submitting Live Local projects must still meet requirements in a local jurisdiction's comprehensive development plan, which guides what kinds of construction and intensity are allowed, as well as other local development regulations. According to Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez, who led the city's effort to protect its extensive historic districts from the worst impacts of the expanded Live Local Act, that means its planning and zoning officials can block demolition of a historic building or reject a developer's application if it doesn't conform to a broad range of local rules, including historic preservation criteria and those governing architectural character. The new language, proposed by Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones and GOP Rep. Ileana Garcia, also allows the city to require developers whose projects pass comprehensive plan and zoning muster to preserve or replicate historic building facades, Fernandez said. The original bills were filed by GOP Sen. Alexis Calatayud and GOP Rep. Vicki Lopez, who agreed to the concessions. The Beach, however, continues to strongly oppose the expansion because it grants developers a significantly greater right to build big by overriding caps on height and density, still posing a significant risk to Miami Beach's cityscape and its historic buildings and districts, Fernandez said. It would bring skyscrapers to low-scale city neighborhoods where heights have historically been capped at about three or four stories, including some historic districts. The expansion also effectively removes the ability of city boards, including the Historic Preservation Board, to hold public hearings on Live Local projects across most of the city, because it requires that all review must take place administratively, behind closed doors. 'The fire hasn't been put out, but the blaze has been contained,' Fernandez said in an interview. The city will urge Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the expansion, he added. Fernandez outlined his understanding of the Jones and Garcia amendments, which he said came out of conversations with Calatayud, in a public letter to her. The final version of the bills, SB 1730 and HB 943, passed 37-0 in the Senate and, subsequently, 105-0 in the House. Still questions about scope The precise contours and impact on historic districts and city neighborhoods across the state, and what powers local officials retain over Live Local applications, likely won't be entirely clear until they begin reviewing proposals and negotiating with developers. Some observers say it's also likely to produce litigation as local authorities and developers joust over what's allowed. Early Live Local submissions in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, many of which would bring outscaled height and density to established low-scale neighborhoods, have generated furious public pushback and official resistance. So far, no Live Local project has broken ground in Miami-Dade even as its legislative champions goose its provisions to overcome legal and political obstacles. Critics have said the act is weighted heavily in developers' favor while doing little to address the state's critical need for truly affordable housing. Live Local, originally passed in 2023 and amended last year, has applied only in areas of counties and municipalities zoned for commercial, mixed-use or industrial uses. Under the law, developers can submit projects that are taller and more dense that allowed by local zoning if they set aside 40 percent of apartments for renters making up to 120 percent of local median household income -- a level currently set at $96,000 in Miami-Dade County. Live Local developers also get major breaks on property taxes. This year's legislation significantly expands the definition of commercial areas to include any that allow lodging and restaurants. Beach officials say that means it would now cover practically all of the city with the exception of single-family neighborhoods. Previously, Live Local applied only in commercial corridors like Alton Road, Collins and Washington avenues and Ocean Drive, but the city retained the ability to review and deny demolition permits for buildings designated as historic individually or listed as significant or contributing properties in historic districts. Versions of the Live Local expansion bills passed by both the House and Senate before the last-minute amendments would have fully stripped the city of that power, Fernandez and other city officials said. Nearly 'Doom of Art Deco' Fernandez had called the expansion 'the doom of Art Deco' after Lopez, the House bill sponsor, this week stripped from it protections she had agreed to that would have exempted historic districts established before 2000, which includes much of South Beach. Because the Live Local law already in place allows developers to build to the maximum height allowed by a local jurisdiction within a mile of a property, the expansion would potentially result in the replacement of predominantly two- and three-story buildings in Miami Beach's famed Art Deco District with towers of up to 500 feet, or about 50 stories. The Shevrin and Garcia amendments reduced that radious to three-quarters of a mile, a provision that could lower some allowed Live Local heights but that Fernandez called insignificant. City officials believe the legislation is being pushed by developers looking to redevelop South Beach and other neighborhoods where preservation laws and other zoning rules have limited the height and scale of what they can build. The Live Local expansion represents the third effort by the legislature to open the door to demolition of historically and architecturally significant buildings across the state. In 2023, a so-called resiliency law that purports to promote redevelopment better suited to meet rising seas and storm surge because of climate change would have had a similar bulldozer effect across Florida, but was significantly scaled back after a statewide uproar. That newer version, passed last year, still leaves significant stretches of Miami Beach's Atlantic shoreline, including some of its most prominent hotels of the 1940s and 1950s, vulnerable to demolition without city interference.
