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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-87-0248J-87-242 3/4/87 RESOLUTION NO. 877-248 A RESOLUTION IDENTIFYING THE CITY'S OBJECTIVES FOR THE OVERTOWN SHOPPING CENTER, SPECIFYING THE RESOURCES TO BE COMMITTED TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THESE OBJECTIVES, AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE CERTAIN SPECIFIC ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES. WHEREAS, the City of Miami holds title to the property identified as the Overtown Shopping Center, located at 1360 N.W. 3rd Avenue; and WHEREAS, the original plan of the City to have this City -owned facility developed and managed by the appropriate local community development corporation, the Overtown Economic Development Corporation, has failed and resulted in the City's assumption of these responsibilities; and, WHEREAS, staff of the City have performed as many interim services as resources and authority would allow, without specific direction from the City Commission as to its intentions for the redirection of this facility; and, WHEREAS, the City of Miami wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the redevelopment of the Overtown community, involving economic revitalization which includes the residents of this community to the extent that it is maximally feasible; and, WHEREAS, this resolution will direct and authorize a plan of action which the City Administration may implement to achieve the end of economic revitalization of the Overtown Shopping Center with attendant links to Bayside Development and Phase I of the Overtown/Park West Redevelopment Project; and, WHEREAS, this is the only end objective which the City of Miami should have for this or any other neighborhood project of this nature, i.e., to demonstrate the productive economic results which can be experienced by our communities with cooperative efforts between the government and its citizens; CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF MAR 13 1987 Esouff ON a. 87-248 %. oiii� 10,111, J-87-242 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA: Section 1. A City policy is hereby established4hereby the City of Miami will spend all the necessary and available staff and financial resources required to restore the Overtown Shopping Center and to develop and manage it as a productive, retail shopping center. Section 2. The City Manager is authorized to create a position within the Department of General Services, charged with the responsibility of carrying out City policy as established in Section 1, to be funded and supported collectively by the Departments of General Services Administration, Development, and Community Development. Section 3. The City's Administration is directed to explore all existing economic revitalization potentials and to coordinate the focus of these programs on the Overtown Shopping Center, to the end of revitalizing this facility and restoring it in accordance with its original economic development purpose, including, but not limited to: ' a) The Business Assistance Center, the Miami -Dade Entrepreneurial Institute, and the Metro -Miami Action Plan and its related economic development activities targeted to City communities being involved in this revitalization effort. b) Miami -Capital Development, Inc., participating fully in this effort by conducting the required loan activities to achieve this end. c) The Rouse Company's Bayside Foundation's expected provision of the appropriate support to the plan which will be ultimately developed by the City's Administration. 1/ The implementation of this policy shall be the subject of a semi-annual review by the City Commission. 57-248 d) Developers of Phase I Overtown/Park West participating in this revitalization effort in a manner similar to the Rouse Company's involvement in its Bayside Minority Business Program. Section 4. The General Services Administration Department will be assigned the lead responsibility for accomplishing these directives, but the Departments of Community Development and Development will be expected to lend every possible financial and other support measures identified as being required to achieve the Commission's objectives for this facility. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 13th day of March , 1987. ATTEST: MATTY HIRAI, CITY CLERK PREPARED AND APPROVED BY: ,e,4, 17 ROBERT F. CLARK DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY APPRO TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: XAVIER L. SUAREZ MAYOR CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO. Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission FROM: Cesar H. Odio City Manager RECOMMENDATION DATE: MAR 51987 FILE: SU OJ ECT: REFERENCES: ENCLOSURES: Resolution Recommending Administrative Actions RE: Overtown Shopping Center M It is respectfully recommended that the City Commission adopt the attached resolution, approving in concept the administrative policy contained herein which would direct the manner in which the City will expend the staff and fiscal resources required to restore, develop, operate, and manage the Overtown Shopping Center, located at 1360 N.W. 3rd Avenue. Further, authorizing the City Manager to take the specific actions contained therein to achieve the end result of creating and maintaining a revitalized shopping center in the Overtown Community of which the citizens of the City can be proud and which will contribute to the overall revitalization of this community. BACKGROUND The General Services Administration Department acquired the responsibility for the maintenance of the Overtown Shopping Center several months ago, as a result of the failure of the Overtown Economic Development Corporation to live up to its contract with the City for the development and management of the Center. The proposed Resolution requests your guidance as to the policy which the City should implement with regard to the development and management of this facility. The Center was built several years ago, utilizing City funds in combination with federal grants and loans. The City contracted with the Overtown Economic Development Corporation to provide construction management and subsequent facility management services for the Center. The City continued to hold title to the property; and on February 12, 1986, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court set aside a prior tax sale of the Center, thus clearing the City's title to the property. %R-/ 87!-24b Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission -2- In the interim, two (2) major businesses, owned and operated by Black entrepreneurs who were assisted in their venture by loans from Miami Capital Development and favorable lease considerations, folded and abandoned their facilities, leaving major equipment in the food store and removing all equipment from the coin -operated Laundromat. Vandalism occurred in these vacant spaces, as well as to the security gates/grids, the roof, and the breezeway area. Threats to the security of the remaining lessees, as well as the resulting deterioration of the facility, demanded certain emergency action which was taken at the City Manager's directive, with your subsequent approval. Additionally, a space designated and developed for use as a dry-cleaning facility, but never opened, was abandoned with the major equipment left intact and still remaining. Currently, Dade County Youth and Family Development, Dr. Moses Grimberg, Burrs Beauty Salon, and Miami -Dade Community College/City of Miami Neighborhood Jobs Program are occupants in this facility. The joint arrangement between the City and Miami -Dade provides for the college to rent the space and provide equipment and staff assistance and the City, Department of Development, employs an individual to manage the activities of the Community College, i.e., outreach and classroom training for Overtown residents. Marginal success has been achieved in this program, and the City and College feel that there is a need for a major redirection of this program, in conjunction with the revitalization of the Center. In December 19869 the Department of Development received very little response from a Request for Proposals issued to secure management services for the Center. One of the respondents, the YMCA, indicated an interest in operating a food cooperative. The Xtra Food Chain is currently reviewing the food store space but has offered no commitments. Additional expressions of interest in leasing the vacant space have been received from an attorney, a beauty salon operator, and an employee of the college program who is interested in operating a prepared food facility. Our Property and Lease Management staff is currently negotiating for the reopening of a coin -operated Laundromat in the space originally utilized in this manner. In response to requests from community residents and Commissioners Dawkins and Carollo, GSA responded to the City Manager's directive to move the City's Overtown Police Mini -station, currently located in the adjacent Dade County Culmer/Overtown Community Center, by assigning staff to work in conjunction with the Department of Development to facilitate the move. Subsequently, once the space was identified, GSA painted and tiled the space and the Department of 8%-248 IVA Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission -3- Development, with the assistance of the Office of Commissioner Carollo, began to identify surplus furniture which could be used to furnish this facility. Staff at the current mini -station proposed physical improvements to the space totalling approximately $209000 which the Department of GSA rejected. Subsequently, GSA scaled back the cost to $3,800 because it lacked the administrative authority by the Police Department to expend funds on their behalf and because of concern that the originally proposed alterations would prevent the subsequent leasing of the space, a large, prime corner space at the front of the Center, for retail activity as originally planned. The Department of General Services Administration continues to coordinate the repairs and required improvements which are being identified, almost daily, by current tenants, the Police Department, and the Department of Development, in anticipation of securing additional tenants. These departments have routinely met to facilitate the ultimate goal of improving the facility and maintaining its potential as a valuable economic revitalization force in this community. However, as reflected in several of these departmental exchanges and interactions, the need for a singular, coordinated administrative policy directing their efforts has emerged, culminating finally in this request to you for that direction. i The Overtown Shopping Center is located adjacent to the Dade County Culmer/Overtown Community Center which houses several social services programs, formerly including the City's Overtown Jobs Program and the mini -station. It is critical that the Overtown Shopping Center not be duplicative of these efforts and not become an extension, by the City, of its own social services programs. Current statistics on this community portray a dismal picture for the future. However, the City's implementation of Phase I of the Overtown/Park West Redevelopment, coupled with some positive marketing and public relations activities for this area, could make a difference. Phase I of Overtown/Park West has already shown the potential for economic _ and job related growth in the area, if it is done in a coordinated manner with City policy to control it. The attached resolution is designed to link the efforts of the City together with other existing revitalization activities, supported by and located within the City of Miami, to demonstrate the kind of economic development originally intended for this shopping center and to provide the Administration with the authority needed to take the required actions, on behalf of the City of Miami, to make the Shopping Center viable. 1fr-3 afti=921 Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission -4- _ The proposed staff is currently funded by the Department of Development. The amount of funds required to repair and improve the facility will be computed, upon your approval, and funds will be identified from within the existing budgets of the affected departments as identified in the Resolution. Attachments: Proposed Resolution /9-y