CRA approves $25 million allocation to convert former women’s detention center into Miami MOCAD

The Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency voted April 10 to allocate $25,000,000 in bond proceeds to repurpose a former women’s detention center as the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (Miami MOCAD), following a public comment period that featured broad community and cultural-sector support.

Supporters told the CRA the project would replace a longtime neighborhood symbol with arts, education and job opportunities. Marilyn Hollifield, senior partner at Holland & Knight and a cofounder of Miami MOCAD, said, “It was wrong to build a jail across the street from Booker T.” She added, “From ashes of despair, Miami MOCAD, a museum of the future, will bring hope, creativity and innovation.”

Speakers at the public comment period emphasized educational and economic benefits repeatedly. Howard Herring, president of the New World Symphony, said cultural institutions “stitch communities together” and described how culture changed Lincoln Road into an economic center; Rick Beasley, who represents the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and leads a county workforce agency, emphasized internships and workforce development tied to the museum.

On the agenda, the board considered five items. The CRA withdrew File No. 16688 (RE1) by unanimous voice vote. The board then approved three related resolutions (RE2, RE3 and RE4) in a single motion and separately approved RE5; the transcript records the motions carried unanimously. Item descriptions read into the record included:

- RE2: A resolution rescinding CRAR-24-00023 and approving clarified project designations listed in Exhibit B (bond-related documentation and RFI 23-03 referenced in the reading).

- RE3: A resolution rescinding CRA-23-0003 in its entirety and enacting a new resolution to clarify contract-term provisions for an enhanced police services agreement; the resolution authorized the executive director to negotiate and execute an amendment to the enhanced police services agreement in an amount not to exceed $955,552.43.

- RE4: A resolution approving additional funding of $34,725 to support renovations and rehabilitation of the Dun Josephine Hotel at 1028 NW Third Avenue, Unit 104, Miami, FL 33136, for a total project cost not to exceed $932,021.20.

- RE5: A resolution rescinding CRAR-24-0067 (series 2024 bonds) and enacting a new resolution providing for issuance of tax increment revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $175,000,000 for construction or rehabilitation, affordable housing, other capital improvements in the redevelopment area, and refinancing certain outstanding obligations.

Board members also approved minutes for Dec. 12, 2024, and Jan. 23, 2025, with unanimous voice votes.

Public commenters who spoke in favor framed the museum as a restorative project for Overtown and a resource for nearby schools, including Booker T. Washington High School. Elvis Fuentes, director of the Coral Gables Museum, described the project as “poetic justice” given his museum’s own reuse of a former jail and courtroom. Multiple speakers cited workforce opportunities, student internships, and community engagement as expected outcomes.

The board’s votes recorded on the transcript were voice votes with “Aye” and the clerk stating the motions carried unanimously; no roll-call vote tallies or individual member votes were read into the record in the provided transcript.

The board did not debate detailed financing schedules or a timeline for the museum’s construction in the recorded segments; the resolutions as read include authorization limits (the $25,000,000 allocation and the larger bond authorization in RE5) and an authorization for the executive director to negotiate a contract amendment for enhanced police services not to exceed $955,552.43.

The CRA meeting then adjourned and the record shows the board moved on to the Omni CRA agenda.