Miami HCLC approves multiple housing awards, loan consents and project changes including $600,000 for supportive housing

The Housing and Community Loan Committee (HCLC) of the City of Miami voted on June 26, 2025, to approve a set of housing funding awards, loan consents and project refinancings that the department recommended.

The committee approved: a recommendation to allocate up to $600,000 in CDBG funds to the Miami‑Dade County Homeless Trust to rehabilitate 1371 Northwest 60 First Street into six permanent supportive housing units; a HOME loan of $955,728 to Papel Family Management LLC for the Zoey’s Landing development (10 affordable units); consent to refinance and subordinate the City’s $675,015 HOME loan for Amber Garden as part of a proposed Wells Fargo refinance and extended maturity; acceptance of borrower entity and budget updates for the South Florida Community Land Trust Place Louverture project; approval of the Gallery at Loomis Park budget and two unit‑mix contingency options tied to county/HUD approvals and a $2,000,000 ARPA predevelopment loan; amendments to unit mixes for Briseis Del Sol 1 & 2 (Jose Marti Villas LLC); and a reduction of the city‑assisted units at Magnus Brickell (formerly Gallery at West Brickell) from 93 to 57 to reflect units actually leased to City residents.

Why it matters: the actions together represent the committee’s latest deployments of federal and local housing resources — CDBG, HOME, SHIP, ARPA and county surtax funds — and several project‑level changes that affect how units will be leased and which populations receive preference. The approvals move multiple developments toward loan closing, rehabilitation, or construction while documenting changes in borrower entities, financing stacks, and unit allocations.

Details of the approved items

1) 1371 Northwest 60 First Street — CDBG to Miami‑Dade County Homeless Trust The committee endorsed staff’s recommendation to allocate up to $600,000 of City of Miami CDBG funds to the Miami‑Dade County Homeless Trust to rehabilitate a 1958 two‑story building with six one‑bedroom units owned by the City of Miami. According to the department memo presented by Alberto Cacao, Housing Development Coordinator for the Homeless Trust, the building sits on a roughly 5,300‑square‑foot lot and needs structural, electrical, roof, plumbing and mold remediation to meet 40‑year recertification requirements. The project’s total rehab cost was estimated at about $800,000; the Trust and county food & beverage tax funds are expected to cover the remaining cost. Staff recommended the City provide a deferred‑interest loan for a 30‑year affordability period. The committee approved the recommendation with a 15‑day verification caveat and a requirement that a reverter clause be added to the deed to enforce affordability requirements.

2) Zoey’s Landing (Papel Family Management LLC) — HOME allocation HCD staff recommended and the committee approved allocation of up to $955,728 in City of Miami HOME funds to Papel Family Management LLC for Zoey’s Landing, a 10‑unit affordable housing project at 347 NW 30 First Street (rehab of a duplex plus 8 new units). The project’s total development cost was presented as approximately $2.4 million with a capital stack that includes an acquisition loan, owner equity and deferred developer fee; the city’s HOME loan was described as 0% during construction and carrying modest debt service thereafter.

3) Place Louverture (South Florida Community Land Trust) — borrower entity and budget update The committee accepted staff’s recommendation to recognize a revised borrower structure (South Florida CLT Place Louverture Developer LLC) and to accept an updated project budget that showed an approximate 9.8% increase in total development cost (from $7.19M to $7.89M) without requesting additional City funds. Staff noted the project remains financed through a mix of construction loans, county surtax, county HOME funds, city SHIP, and grant sources; the committee approved the administrative change and the updated budget.

4) Amber Garden — consent to refinance and loan maturity extension HCD presented a borrower request for the City to consent to a Wells Fargo first mortgage in the amount of about $7.4 million that would pay off the current first mortgage and a county surtax second mortgage. The proposed structure would move the City’s existing $675,015 HOME loan into second position and extend its maturity from 09/30/2031 to 09/04/2060, preserving affordability on 11 city‑assisted units. Staff recommended consenting to the refinance and amending loan documents as needed; the committee approved the recommendation.

5) Gallery at Loomis Park — budget acceptance, ARPA predevelopment loan, unit‑mix contingency The committee approved multiple items for Gallery at Loomis Park, a large mixed‑income downtown rental project. Staff recommended acceptance of a revised capital stack that incorporated a new Florida Housing Finance Corporation soft loan and approved offering $2,000,000 of a previously approved $3,000,000 City ARPA allocation as a predevelopment loan to accelerate permitting and site work ahead of a December 2026 ARPA spend‑down deadline. The committee also approved two alternate unit‑mix options (one that depends on a joint City/County/HUD waitlist approval and a fallback workforce AMI structure) so the developer can proceed while negotiations with the county and HUD continue.

6) Briseis Del Sol 1 & 2 (Jose Marti Villas LLC) — city‑assisted unit modifications Staff recommended, and the committee approved, amendments to the city‑assisted unit distribution across the two Briseis Del Sol buildings. The change increases the net number of city‑assisted units from 63 to 78 by reallocating certain units and converting some previously PBV/RAD designations into tax‑credit units at different AMI levels; staff will amend executed loan documents to reflect the new unit mix while maintaining other loan terms.

7) Magnus Brickell (formerly Gallery at West Brickell) — reduction of city‑assisted units to reflect city resident leasing Staff recommended reducing the project’s recorded number of city‑assisted units from 93 to 57, reflecting the number of units that were leased to City of Miami residents after a mix of county project‑based voucher placements and a City‑administered advertisement. The committee approved the reduction; staff said the reduction aligns City records with actual leasing outcomes while noting the project nonetheless houses very low‑income seniors at substantially reduced rents.

Votes, motions and next steps The committee voted to approve each of the staff recommendations listed above. Motions and seconds were recorded on the floor for the items presented and committee members verbally indicated “aye” for each approval. Several items include follow‑up steps required of staff or borrowers (examples: inclusion of a reverter clause in the 1371 NW 60 First Street deed; a 15‑day verification period for the Homeless Trust award; loan document amendments and updated closing steps for refinances and borrower entity changes). Staff said they would return to the committee with updates at subsequent meetings or provide status reports at the next committee meeting when appropriate.

What was said (selected quotes) • "We recently bought the La Quinta Hotel... we are picking up and looking for properties that will help us with our battle of ending homelessness," — Alberto Cacao, Housing Development Coordinator, Miami‑Dade County Homeless Trust. • "The property being conveyed is currently the property of the City of Miami," — Raymond Pereira, Office of the City Attorney. • "As soon as the deed is conveyed to us, we will draw down the CDBG funds and use our match funding to get the property repaired," — Homeless Trust representative (testifying at the podium).

Implementation notes and risks Staff characterized the projects as moving toward closing, permitting or construction but flagged implementation steps that remain: deed conveyance language and reverter clauses, underwriting verification, HUD and county approvals that affect waitlist mechanics, and ARPA spend‑down timing for predevelopment funds. Several presenters warned of construction contingencies typical for older buildings (unexpected plumbing or structural costs) and noted that some projects will require continued interagency coordination. Implementation risk across the package is assessed as medium given the financing complexity and reliance on third‑party approvals.

Ending Committee members asked for follow‑up reports on several items (loan closings and a 15‑day verification on the Homeless Trust award) and staff said they would provide updates at future meetings. The committee adjourned after approving the full slate of recommendations.