Danto Builders is proud to be a part of the North Miami (NoMi) Elderly Residential housing project, which has been years in the making (thanks to the pandemic!).
We interviewed Lynda Harris, the force behind this project, to hear the story of how the project was conceived and became a reality.
Background: the shortage of affordable housing
North Miami commissioned FIU (Florida International University) to do a study on the shortage of affordable housing. Their research found that 63% of North Miami’s affordable housing is 50 years old, or older (as of 2020). In addition, almost 80% of the North Miami workforce has to live outside of North Miami because they can’t afford good, quality housing.
Councilwoman Kassandra Timothe (District 2) has made it one of her priorities to address workforce and/or affordable housing in the area, including housing for seniors. Seniors are typically on fixed incomes, especially if they are retired; since workers experience difficulty finding affordable housing in North Miami, the problem is even more severe for seniors, who are living on fixed incomes. This is one of Councilwoman Timothe’s passions and priorities.
How did the NoMi Elderly Residential project start?
One person, Lynda Harris, has been the driving force behind the NoMi project. Lynda is a financial advisor by training who is also a land owner in North Miami.
It all began when Lynda signed up for a Community Real Estate Development course, to learn about how to develop her own property. The course was taught by Don Patterson. As a land owner in North Miami, Lynda is passionate about helping the community. She sought out the course to learn about community development, signed up, completed the course, and received her accreditation.
With this accomplished, she reached back to Mr. Patterson (who taught the class) to ask if he could help her, as a developer, to do a community project on the property she owned. Don wasn’t responsive at first, but Lynda was persistent and after three months she secured his help, convincing him that she owned land in North Miami and was genuinely interested in a community development project.
Don met with her and he brought with him Tanya Wilson, Director of Planning, Zoning & Community Development of the City of North Miami to help Lynda understand the zoning of her property for this type of development.
At that meeting, Tanya Wilson saw Lynda’s passion and interest in community development. So she told Lynda that the City of North Miami had a small lot that they’d like to have developed into housing for seniors. The City of NoMi was looking to partner with a nonprofit that is developing land, so they could donate the lot, to be developed as affordable residential housing for seniors. Tanya asked Lynda if she’d be interested in that project.
Lynda and Don looked at the land and decided to take on the project as a team. And so the NoMi Elderly Housing residential project began, in October 2019, managed by the REVA Development Corporation (Don and Lynda).
The COVID-19 curveball
Just a few months after Lynda and Don took on the NoMi project, COVID hit the U.S. and the world shut down (in March 2020). As Lynda shared, it was a very challenging time to be in land development because zoning departments were closed, it was impossible to get meetings, and lending banks were also closed. Land development was at a standstill.
On top of this, the rising crisis of supply chain management caused the price of construction materials to increase significantly during the pandemic. The costs of steel, lumber, concrete, and trusses all rose 25 – 40%. This added to the challenge of progressing with the project.
Because of this, REVA Development had to go back to the North Miami Community Development Agency, which was providing partial funding for the project, to ask for additional grant funds, to cover the increased material costs. This was a long and involved process; finally, additional funding was approved.
Danto Builders enters as General Contractor for the project
Don Patterson was familiar with Debbie and Danto Builders, having met Debbie at an event. He also saw the distinctive Danto Builders project signs around the area, and knew of their reputation for high quality work.
Lynda Harris is also Chairwoman of the Women’s Business Council of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, and she created a Chamber event, in November 2020, called “She Build.” It was an online (Zoom) workshop for Female Real Estate Developers in South Florida, and Don recommended that Debbie Danto be part of the panel. Lynda approached Debbie and she agreed to be part of the webinar.
As a result of these connections, once funding was secured, it was time to send out Requests for Proposals to find a construction partner, and Danto Builders was included. Danto provided the best bid for the work and was engaged for the project.
The ground-breaking ceremony in January 2022
The equity financing from Florida Community Loan Fund came through for the project in six months, in the summer of 2020. But there were many obstacles yet to be surmounted, such as the rising cost of materials (as mentioned above).
Because of COVID, construction sites were closed (to keep workers safe) and the work got delayed. If not for the pandemic, the timing of the construction would have happened much sooner.
The ground-breaking finally happened in January 2022.
What is REVA Development?
REVA is an acronym for Real Estate Ventures for Artists. Don Patterson has a passion for housing for artists, because studies have shown that artists help with the redevelopment of communities; they make an area “cool” to live-in or visit (Wynwood), which means the area becomes an economic driver for redevelopment.
Unfortunately, this economic development and success soon drives artists out of the same community they helped to redevelop, because they get “priced out” by the rising real estate values. REVA is dedicated to helping this vital part of the community.
The design for the current project will include open “loft” style units, and open ceilings with exposed pipes, which will be available for artists who need this type of affordable housing.
What is the vision and dream moving forward?
Lynda Harris is now Project Manager at REVA Development, working closely with Don Patterson. She owns five lots in North Miami, near the current NoMi project, having bought the land in 2004 and been involved in real estate because of her financial background and work.
Lynda is passionate about encouraging others in the community to buy land in South Florida and hold onto it. Since her purchase of the five lots, the zoning has changed, so now her property falls within a transit zone (TriRail comes through the area). Because of the location, there’s a 109-story project in development across the street from her land.
Lynda’s next step is to build 21 residential units on her property. She looks forward to working with Councilwoman Timothe on this project, to continue to help build good, quality, affordable housing in the North Miami area.