MIAMI, FL March 20, 2013 In the latest example of federal stimulus dollars being put to work in Miami-Dade County, nonprofit affordable housing developers Carrfour Supportive Housing and the National Housing Trust (NHT) have partnered to transform a formerly distressed North Miami Beach apartment complex into a newly-redeveloped affordable housing community, providing homes for approximately 140 low-income residents. The $8 million redevelopment of Harvard House Apartments was made possible through support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which aims to revitalize neighborhoods that have been negatively impacted by properties that were foreclosed upon or abandoned as a result of the recession. Revitalizing these areas is important for residents who are in need and have been searching for safe places to live, so bringing in contractors, plumbers, electrical services, and so on, to help tie this all together will benefit the community in multiple ways.
Carrfour and NHT celebrated the grand “re-opening” of Harvard House during a special reception and ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 19, 2013, joined by several elected and government officials, including NSP Team Leader John Laswick of the U.S. HUD Office in Washington, City of North Miami Beach Mayor George Vallejo, and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally A. Heyman.
“Harvard House is a perfect example of how the federal government’s NSP program is breathing new life into local communities,” said Stephanie Berman, president of Carrfour Supportive Housing. “Beyond providing much-needed housing for families and individuals in need, we rescued an asset from distress, thus injecting new life into a deteriorating neighborhood. We are not only rebuilding apartments, we are rebuilding an entire community.”
Harvard House, located at 2020 NE 169th Street in North Miami Beach, consists of 56 newly-renovated affordable housing units designated for families earning at or below 50% of the area’s median income marking the first of three NSP2-funded redevelopment projects undertaken by Carrfour in Miami. These re-development projects can be very costly, but finding the best painters (similar to the ones on the My House Painter directory), contractors, electricians, roofers, etc. is an important step in ensuring that they are safe and reliable for individuals and families to move into.
This means sourcing certified professionals, e.g. services similar to Denver roofing companies and plumbers in the local area, so they are confident with what they produce. In spite of that, finding experienced renovators at a reasonable price can be often challenging. Nonetheless, the housing authorities might be able to conduct basic research in order to hire the right contractor for a specific project. For instance, when it comes to repairing ceilings, professional plaster services such as a Joliet Plaster Repair company might be of assistance. In the same way, a reputable flooring company in the neighborhood may be a good fit to renovate the floors.
HUD’s NSP2 initiative part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 granted nearly $2 billion to states, local governments, nonprofits and public and/or private nonprofit entities on a competitive basis, with the purpose of rehabilitating distressed properties. Carrfour was part of the Miami-Dade County NSP consortium that was granted $89 million in funding through the program. All told, HUD has allocated $6.82 billion to NSP1, NSP2 and NSP3 grantees across the country.
Carrfour has spent $17 million in federally-granted NSP2 funds on the acquisition, renovation and redevelopment of three separate formerly-distressed Miami-Dade properties. The organization’s remaining two projects Tequesta Knoll and Hampton Village are set to deliver by 2014, with all three newly-converted affordable housing communities providing homes for nearly 800 low-income men, women and children in the area.
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