Stop Gentrification

West Grove Residents Plead for Affordable Housing Solutions

By Lenneice Drew

Two targeted groups, seniors and low-income residents, are being displaced from Coconut Grove by greedy developers who ignore the historical value of the community, area residents complained during a Coconut Grove “Village West” Homeowners & Tenants Association Meeting held on Monday.

Among those invited to speak on the association’s panel: Marc Sarnoff, who represents Coconut Grove on Miami’s city Commission, and County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, whose district also includes the Grove.

West Grove residents fear that gentrification, defined in the meeting as lower-income households displaced by high-income residents ultimately changing the character of a neighborhood, will force many in the predominately African-American community out. Also living in the once affordable West Grove area are people who help sustain the community — police officers, nurses and firefighters — and may also be displaced.

Since most of the Coconut Grove section of Miami is considered an affluent community, developers are attracted to building high-end housing. Certain properties in the Grove have increased in value by 50 percent due to adjacent high-end condos, and the cost of housing has risen by 75 percent in the past two years.

Of the 1,800 units of affordable housing currently under construction in the city of Miami, none is in Coconut Grove, and a reduction in federal funding has also limited opportunities to build affordable housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development subsidized 300,000 fewer units in 2003 than in 1995.

Community leaders said the takeover could only be stopped through a combination of efforts from legislators, developers and community organizations.

Among the recommended solutions: that city of Miami and county commissioners implement legislation that would require developers to provide affordable units and tax reductions for residents on a fixed income.

Historian Arva Parks said if the community doesn’t act now, it can kiss goodbye the rich culture and history of the Grove that has existed since the 1800s.

Parks’ comments hit home for panel member Thelma Gibson, whose Bahamian grandfather helped build Coconut Grove. Gibson urged homeowners not to sell their properties. “We cannot be sold down the drain for $300,000 to $400,000,” she said. 

Gibson also encouraged residents to offer the commissioners poignant questions and sound solutions. “Do we want two white men to decide what we want for this community?” Gibson asked, referring to Gimenez and Sarnoff.

Gimenez, who said affordable housing was his weakest area of government, agreed with Gibson.

“We don’t want to tell you what this community wants. Whatever this community wants to happen is what I will push for,” said Gimenez, who once served as a city manager for Miami.

Sarnoff and Gimenez will team up to build an affordable housing project that will give Grove residents priority.

CEO of Coconut Grove Collaborative Jihan Rashid advised them to consider six plots of land located on Grand Avenue between Margate and Plaza. West Grove developers are looking to sell the land after a dispute with the city about how high they could build, he said.

Sarnoff said he wanted to bring a sizable affordable housing project to the Grove and would look into Grand Avenue. But there is only so much he and his colleagues on the Miami City Commission can do, Sarnoff said. He encouraged community residents to voice their concerns to Tallahassee legislators.

“There is only about $260,000 in the housing and economic development budget and I have to spread that across 11 miles,” Sarnoff said.

Those who attended the meeting heeded Sarnoff’s advice and signed a petition that supports the right to inherit property taxes. The city of Miami will package and send the petition to Tallahassee legislators, who will vote on the issue in about two weeks.

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