Fort Lauderdale voters could decide how affordable housing projects near downtown are reviewed and … [+]
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A nonprofit developer locked in a battle with Fort Lauderdale officials over a proposed affordable housing project wants city voters to decide how developments for low-income residents are approved and evaluated.
Healthy Housing Foundation, a subsidiary of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, recently submitted a proposed ballot initiative to the City of Fort Lauderdale that would ensure proposals to build 100% affordable housing receive fair, transparent and timely reviews, and would not be treated differently from housing projects intended for middle and upper-income households.
HHF’s ballot initiative comes as the organization seeks to build a 500-unit, $71 million residential complex marketed to seniors, students, disabled people and others earning up to half the median household income in Broward County, which is $26,500 or less. The L-shaped 1.3-acre site is located in downtown Fort Lauderdale, between Southeast Seventh and Eighth streets, east of Southeast Fourth Avenue.
According to HHF executives, voter approval of the ballot question would prevent Fort Lauderdale elected officials and administrators to from delaying and denying 100% affordable housing projects based on location of a development or the income of potential residents.
Michael Kahane, Southern Bureau Chief for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in an email statement Fort Lauderdale has a “tremendous need” for low-income residential developments. “There is no reason why proposals to build 100% affordable housing should be treated any differently from those intended for middle and upper-income households,” Kahane said. “The City of Fort Lauderdale should not be applying its regulations differently or subjectively choosing where affordable housing units should be located.”
The Metropolitan Center at Florida International University recently released an affordable housing needs assessment for Broward County that found Fort Lauderdale has more than 30,000 cost-burdened households, with 33% being owner-occupied and 59% being renter-occupied. The city also has the second highest foreclosure rate in Broward with 1 in every 1,281 homes in distress, according to the assessment.
The HHF claims city leaders have resisted approving its project given its proximity to Las Olas Boulevard, downtown Fort Lauderdale’s main drag, and the income of the proposed 15-story building’s potential tenants.