Jesse Scheckner
The state is debating between giving an affordable housing development in Miami-Dade County $3 million, $1.5 million or nothing.
It’s still up in the air, as lawmakers haven’t yet agreed on the project, which has drawn ample media attention, protests and a class-action lawsuit.
The Senate is proposing the maximum sum Doral Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Miami Lakes Rep. Tom Fabricio, both Republicans, sought through appropriations requests this year.
The House is offering half that.
Notably, the district that House Speaker Daniel Perez represents encompasses the land where the project is set to rise early next year.
Miami-Dade and developer CREI Holdings want to use the $3 million in nonrecurring state funds for utilities and transportation infrastructure supporting an affordable and workforce apartment building in Sweetwater, a municipality with perhaps the most unique origin story in the Sunshine State.
The total estimated cost of that portion of the project is $33 million, with an additional $3 million coming from other state sources and $27 million from elsewhere, including private investments.
It’s part of a larger undertaking to redevelop a 94.5-acre, 900-home trailer park for which CREI Holdings secured a $110 million loan last year.
Shovels should hit dirt by the first quarter of 2026. Upon completion, the development — CREI’s next expansion of its Li’l Abner Apartments series — is expected to house more than 800 elderly and economically disadvantaged people.
It’ll also feature retail, restaurant and other commercial elements that will offer “full time employment opportunities for residents.”
Former lawmaker and U.S. Ambassador Carlos Trujillo’s lobbying and consulting firm, Continental Strategies, assisted the county and developer in seeking the funding.
In November, CREI gave residents of its Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park six months to vacate their homes ahead of the planned property redevelopment. The evictions came with an incentive: $14,000 to leave by New Year’s Eve, $7,000 to move by March 31 and $3,000 to depart by April 30, after which compensation defaulted to the minimum required by Florida Statutes.
Not everyone opted to go quietly. In December, 186 residents sued, with lawyers David Winker and Erik Wesoloski representing them. The complaint — filed against CREI, Sweetwater and Miami-Dade — alleged CREI violated state law by raising tenants’ rents after issuing its notice to vacate and failing to offer homeowners first right of refusal to buy the land.
One homeowner told NBC 6 he paid $160,000 for his house. Another told the Miami Herald she purchased her trailer for $75,000 in 2023. Both said the $14,000 CREI offered was too paltry a sum to consider. The latter’s daughter said she and other residents knew they had to leave, but they needed more time to do so without suffering dire financial losses and risking homelessness.
The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary injunction against “further demolitions of trailers,” $50,000 per plaintiff in damages, plus attorneys fees.
By March, just 250 households in the park remained after many tenants took buyouts and left. That same month, the county fined CREI nearly $108,500 after inspectors found asbestos in the debris of four homes that were demolished last year.
CREI filed eviction notices this week against the 218 households still there.
Sweetwater said it has tried to help the trailer park’s residents, but that city officials could not block the eviction or redevelopment process since CREI owns the land.
The lawsuit is ongoing.
