HomeMy WebLinkAboutLETTER-NANANANA
Neighbors And Neighbors Associafio Inc. P
June 8, 2010
28 t"'1 C>
George Mensah, Director
City of Miami
Department of Community Development
444 SW 2nd. Avenue
2nd. Floor
Miami, Florida 33130
Re: Extension Request for the $250,000.00 Rehabilitation Grant to Neighbors and
Neighbors Association Inc. (NANA) for Shrimp Wings & Things Restaurant and A
Mother's Care Inc.
Dear Mr. Mensah,
This letter is to request an extension on the $250,000.00 grant to NANA for the Shrimp
Wings & Things Restaurant ($100,000) and A Mother's Care Inc ($150,000). The grant
contract period is due to end on October 15, 2010. We are requesting a one year extension to
this contract for the forgoing reasons.
The selection of these two businesses did not take into account several re -development
impediments such as; the fact that the two businesses selected on that block didn't have
appropriate parking or the standard setbacks. Therefore it required strategic planning in the
approach for devising a development plan for the rehabilitation of the two commercial sites.
The plan had to include applying for a class -2 special permit which entailed the application
going before the City of Miami Commissioners. Additionally the process included us
contacting the Liberty City Trust to work with us in obtaining and getting the agreement with
Off Street Parking Authority. The agreement was needed to turn into the City of Miami
building department to obtain a class -2 special permit. Further the project required
Environmental Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports to be completed.
The Mother's Care Inc. posed the greatest difficulty in devising a plan that can work within
the confined obstruction imposed upon them from years of zoning changes and expansion of
the road that actually decreased the property size and changed the original setbacks. The
main challenges that NANA experienced which inhibited the project from moving forward
were as follow;
When NANA took over the Mother's Care Inc. project the company had already
surveyed their properties and hired an architecture firm and a project development
team.
180 NW 62" Street ■ Miami, Florida 33150 ■ Office (305) 756-0605 ■ Fax (305) 756-6008 nanasjohnson@bellsouth.net
June 18, 2010
Page 2 of 3
• NANA's staff quickly realized after our due diligence that his project development
team had over looked a lot of things and made a series of mistakes.
• After reviewing all the project documents NANA staff informed the owners of
Mother's Care Inc. that the survey was incorrect and therefore the architectural n ans
were also incorrect.
• Therefore the original building plans the owner submitted to the City of Miami
Building Department before NANA took over the project was erroneous. This set of
architectural plans was incorrect and did not include the adequate specifications.
• NANA had to start from square one with the project;
o This included working out the total logistics of the development plan.
o That included identifying all the project impediments and coming up with
solutions (just too briefly mention a few of them).
■ The current vacant lot adjacent to Mother's Care being used for parking.
■ Inadequate Parking
■ Upgrading Building to Code once new permit is issued
■ Expanding the playground area
■ Creating a drop-off & pickup point for the parents
■ Dealing with the setback issues
■ Assisting the owner in raising additional monies for the project (by putting
together a financial loan package)
o Assisting Mother's Care with the bidding and procurement process.
• NANA's final recommendation to Mother's Care Inc. was to split the project into
two separate projects. The first project will be the building that the daycare is
currently operating out of (5861 NW 17th avenue), with the $150,000.00 grant
allocated from the City of Miami Department of Community Development used on
this project to cover the following costs:
o Demolition
o Interior Work
o Exterior work
o Play Ground
' o Parking Lot
o Landscape
• The second project will be the construction of the hurricane damaged building (5851
NW 17th avenue). This project will use bank financed dollars and any other monies
that NANA can assist them in raising.
• Currently the building plans for the first project is completed and approved through
the entire City of Miami building departments accept the fire department. All the
changes that were requested by the fire department was completed and submitted to
the building department and we are waiting their approval.
• While the building plans were being reviewed by the City of Miami Building
Department, NANA had an Environmental Phase -1 done which was completed and
turned over to the City of Miami Department of Community Development. The City
of Miami subsequently submitted the Environmental Phase -1 to HUD for review and
approval which took about four months.
180 NW 62°d Street ■ Miami, Florida 33150 ■ Office (305) 756-0605 ■ Fax (305) 756-6008 nanasjohnson@bellsouth.net
June 18, 2010
Page 3 of 3
• City of Miami Department of Community Development notified us in early April of
2010 that we need an Environmental Phase -2 on the project. By April 23, 2010 we in
turn requested an Environmental Phase -2 proposal to the City of Miami Department
of Community Development. At this time Environmental Phase II is ongoing.
The 2nd commercial site, Shrimp Wings & Things building was divided into two different
units. The owner's proposed plans were to knock down the dividing wall and expand the
business back (33 feet) to create an eat -in establishment and a commercial kitchen in the
back of the building. Additionally as a result of the redevelopment it is necessary to create
two ADA bathrooms.
We also did the bidding and procurement process for the survey, architect and the
Environmental Phase I. The survey was completed and submitted to the architect who
completed the plans. The architect submitted the plans to the City of Miami building
department and the City of Miami approved the plans. During this time the Environmental
Phase I was completed and submitted for their review. The City of Miami thereby submitted
it to HUD and they requested a Phase II. At this time Environmental Phase II is ongoing.
Additionally we had to apply for a special parking designation to get a Class II Special
Permit. This process entailed doing a certified mailing to neighboring businesses and
residents. After submission of the verification of the mailing to the City of Miami permitting
department we had to wait for notification and then get and submit an Indemnification/Hold
Harmless Affidavit and wait for response to that. Due to lack of communication with the
Architect we had to go through that process twice.
We patiently await your decision on this matter. If you have any questions or concerns
regarding this subject please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Nehemiah Davis, NANA Project Director
CC: Lillian Blondet, City Miami CD -Assistant Director
John Lyons, City Miami CD- Contract Analyst
Leroy Jones, Executive Director
Bedilia Campbell, NANA Assistant Project Director
180 NW 62°d Street ■ Miami, Florida 33150 ■ Office (305) 756-0605 ■ Fax (305) 756-6005 nanasjohnson@bellsouth.net