OLCDC in the News
   

July 25, 2004 ~ Miami Herald

A Miami Herald "Neighbors" article by Trenton Daniel, entitled "Apartments due for big changes," discusses the OLCDC's purchase of Westview Terrace Apartments, a 421-unit apartment complex in North Central Dade and plans a multimillion-dollar overhaul.  Read the text of the article below:  
CDC President Willie Logan and Board Member State Rep. Wilbert "Tee" Holloway 
visit with Westview Terrace residents at the CDC's July 17 "meet and greet."
 

Kimberly Everett and her boyfriend used to count four to five burglarized cars a week in the parking lot of their apartment complex between late last year and March.

The 26-year-old mother hopes the security situation will improve now that new owners have taken over the Westview Terrace Apartments in North Central Dade.

''That's really good,'' Everett, who has been staying with her mother Beatrice McQueen in the complex, said when she heard about pending renovations that include heightened security.

The Opa-locka Community Development Corp., a North Dade nonprofit, recently purchased the apartments for $11.25 million from the Westview Terrace Apartments, a subsidiary of Bank of America that acquired the property in November 1999.

Citibank provided $9.56 million to the first mortgage, and Local Initiatives Support Corp. of New York will provide $1 million for the second mortgage.

A multimillion-dollar refurbishing project will soon follow.

''This is the Opa-locka CDC's next step in building our community,'' said Willie Logan, the CDC president and a candidate for County Commission seat No. 1. ``One of the goals of the Opa-locka CDC is to provide quality and affordable housing for the residents of the North Dade Community. As owners of Westview, we are able to provide that and more.''

The 421-unit, 175,982-square-foot multifamily housing apartment complex -- which is twice the size of any previous acquisition by the CDC -- comprises six garden-style buildings and a community center for children.

Its current market value is around $14.5 million, Logan said.

Along with the acquisition of the property at 12501 NW 27th Ave., the CDC plans to rehabilitate the overall infrastructure. The place was built in 1967, public records show.

The CDC will apply to different agencies for money -- estimated to be around $3 million -- to upgrade the plumbing, roofing and landscaping over the next two years, Logan said.

The money will also pay for improved security, including the installation of cameras and better lighting. The property's numerous trees will also be maintained so as not to provide a hiding place for suspicious characters.

Well before the deal was sealed in April, the CDC was already familiar with the property. The group has run the ''Make a Difference'' center at the complex for the past three years. The center offers academic and community activities for children 6 to 18. In addition to after-school services, the center runs a summer camp for the children of tenants.

Logan said residents will now benefit from having ``a local owner who lives and is invested in the community and whose projects are helping the community.''

The complex was sold in 1985 for $6.44 million to Westview Apartments. Officials of the firm at that time were Claude Dorsey and James R. Mitchell. In 1995, WHUD Real Estate filed foreclosure proceedings against Westview. By the time litigation was over, a final judgment had reached $12.8 million.

WHUD became the plaintiff in the case by buying the mortgage from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, which had insured the loan. The cost came close to $4.7 million. As an inducement to buy the loan, WHUD was given a full release from all regulatory agreements. WHUD sold the complex to the Atlanta-based Westview Terrace Apartments, a subsidiary of Bank of America, for $8 million, with the bank providing $7 million of the financing in November 1999.

Despite the past problems, Stephanie Williams-Baldwin, the CDC's senior vice president of projects, was confident the apartment complex could be saved.

''We thought this was in a condition that it could be saved,'' Williams-Baldwin said.

Residents like Everett hope the new owners will take greater interest in them and interact with them more.

''They need to do more than give us fliers,'' Everett said. ``They need to interact more with the tenants. . . . It'll make it more of a family atmosphere.''

Williams-Baldwin said residents can be assured of closer contact, and they will receive a questionnaire seeking feedback in the next 90 days. The CDC held a meet-and-greet session July 17 with food and music for tenants.

''We're looking for a good marriage between the CDC and the tenants,'' Williams-Baldwin said. ``We are looking forward to having a very good working relationship with the tenants.''

June 13, 2004 ~ Miami Herald

A Miami Herald "Neighbors" article, entitled "Loan generates overhaul, new homes," discusses the OLCDC's $1.8 million County grant to redevelop Vista Verde Townhouses located between Northwest 39th and 41st Avenues and Northwest 209th and 215th Streets.  The OLCDC rehabilitated the homes at a cost of $86,000 per home, installing new plumbing, carpeting and electrical and air conditioning systems. Now the Universal 
Truth CDC will sell the homes.  

New Homeowner Yolen Cazilus cuts the ribbon on her new town home with Universal Truth CDC pres. Rev. Mary Tumpkin and OLCDC pres. Willie Logan.
The article quotes OLCDC president Willie Logan as saying "The purpose, really, is...to help provide an alternative so that people can avoid predatory lenders, to keep the value of the homes so that it increases the value of the neighborhood."  

March 31, 2004 ~ OLCDC Offices

The Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation announces the receipt of a loan from the Miami-Dade Housing Agency in the amount of $288,000.00 to be used in funding the Home Rehab Program administered by the CDC’s Community Fund of North Miami-Dade. 

Through the Program, the Community Fund of North Miami-Dade will make available loans to low-and-moderate-income homeowners who live in the Opa-Locka and Miami Gardens area (zip codes 33054, 33055, 33056, 33169, and 33168) and are in need of home repairs but cannot qualify for loans from traditional lenders. These loans will be made at low interest rates and with low closing costs to assist homeowners in repairing their homes.

The OLCDC also announces the receipt of a Federal Grant from the U.S. Treasury Department, Community Development Financial Institution Fund in the amount of $23,880.00 for technical assistance for the Community Fund of North Miami-Dade. These funds will be used for marketing, training, and purchasing equipment for the Community Fund of North Miami Dade.

Willie Logan, President of the OLCDC stated, “These two awards will allow us to implement an aggressive program to help those in need of home repairs and will give us the necessary resources to communicate the availability of the program to the residents of the area. We will help those who need the repairs but cannot do them for lack of financing, and we will help protect homeowners from unscrupulous contractors and predatory lenders.”

The Community Fund of North Miami-Dade already has made two loans, and these loans have helped two homeowners make the necessary repairs to their homes. One homeowner has stated:  “This loan let me fix my bathrooms, and now I am paying less than what I was paying before.”

To apply for one of these low interest loans, please call the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation at 305-687-3545 ext 236.


February 15, 2004 ~ Miami Herald
 

A Herald "Neighbors" article, entitled "Future Homes" announces the OLCDC's FMC II project, pursuant to which the OLCDC will build 5 new single-family homes for low-to-moderate income families. 

 

In the Herald photo, future residents Muriel and Eugene Robinson break ground at the site of their future home.


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