Condo Conversions are on the Rise

RISMEDIA, Oct. 5, 2005—(KRT)—North Miami needs to move faster to find decent housing for low-income renters because condo developers are now competing with the city by converting rental apartments, officials say.

After a 10-year lull in condominium conversions in the city, there are now 33 pending applications for condo conversions, Mayor Kevin Burns said.

That will complicate the work of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, which, among other things, is supposed to buy apartments and renovate them on behalf of renters. That means the agency must take action now rather than setting up plans for the future, said Burns, echoing concerns of other council members.

"Private enterprise is doing this and they're doing it today," Burns said. "I'm looking to put some people into housing now."

State records show that condo conversions peaked in North Miami in the early 1970s, when hundreds of apartments were converted every year. Before buildings in Sans Souci and Keystone Point converted earlier this year, there had been no conversions since 1995.

It's not clear where the pending conversions are located, though Burns fears that some will be within an area set aside for city redevelopment.

Burns said that won't be known until they're finalized, which can take several months.
Frank Schnidman, a consultant acting as director for the redevelopment agency, said he understands the need to create housing quickly before renters are displaced.

"Something needs to happen. We can do it," Schnidman said.

Burns said long-term projects, such as affordable housing at Rucks Park on Northeast Fifth Avenue, may have to wait.

Burns said he is in favor of quicker projects like renovating apartments.

"Rucks Park may need to be redesigned a little bit, to make it more practical, but in the meantime we can get some people into rehabbed housing," Burns said.

The agency's task is to create decent housing on the city's west side, using tax revenue from the luxury Biscayne Landing development on city-owned land. Traffic and business improvements are also planned.

The city will be ready to take applications for new housing by early next year, planning consultant Steve Siskind said. Thousands will apply, he said, and the agency needs to be prepared to keep track of them and counsel them on good credit ratings and other issues.
Schnidman also agreed to a request by council member Marie Steril to hire a Creole-speaking staff member for the agency. In the last Census, the city was about one-third Haitian, one-quarter Hispanic, and one-sixth each African-American and white non-Hispanic.

Copyright © 2005, The Miami Herald
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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