Magellan, Haslem Plan Low-Income Housing in North Miami

Former Miami Heat star Udonis Haslem and Magellan Housing plan a 200-unit project with affordable apartments and workforce-priced townhouses for sale in North Miami, The Real Deal has learned.

Miami-based Magellan and Haslem, who retired from professional basketball this year, want to develop Catherine Flon Estates, with one building of 174 apartments and several buildings with 26 townhouses, Nick Inamdar, principal of Magellan, told TRD. 

An entity tied to Magellan bought the 6.3-acre development site on the southeast corner of Northeast 139th Street and Northeast Fourth Avenue for $1.5 million this hmonth, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The city was the seller. 

Plans for the project are still being finalized, although Inamdar expects the rental building will be eight stories. The number of townhouse buildings isn’t yet known. 

The apartments will target households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income, which is $74,700 annually. This means that to qualify, the maximum income a one-person household can have is $43,380; $49,560 for a two-person household; and $55,740 for a three-person household, according to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. 

Monthly rents at Catherine Flon Estates will be $1,161 for one-bedroom units; $1,393 for two-bedroom units; and $1,610 for three-bedroom units, Inamdar said. 

The townhouses will target households earning no more than 120 percent of the AMI, he said. The prices, which will be set based on government guidance for workforce residences, weren’t immediately available. 

Haslem and Magellan’s project has been in the works for about three years. They won a city-issued request for proposals to develop the site. 

The land is a designated brownfield, which means the developers will be focused on an environmental cleanup for about a year, according to Inamdar. Construction is expected to start late next year. 

Haslem and Magellan also plan to apply for 4 percent low-income housing tax credits, Inamdar said. The government program subsidizes 30 percent of a low-income development’s cost, the FHFC’s website says. 

Magellan also scored a $2.3 million loan from Royal American Companies, according to Vizzda. The financing was used for the land purchase, and the balance will be for site preparation, including the environmental remediation, Inamdar said. 

Catherine Flon Estates isn’t the first affordable project by Magellan and Haslem. In Miami’s Wynwood, the pair plan the 12-story Wynwood Works building at 2035-2043 North Miami Avenue with 120 units. The project will target households earning no more than 60 percent of the AMI. 

Even before retiring, the basketballer started Haslem Housing Venture to develop affordable housing in Miami-Dade County. Magellan, whose other principal is Amay Inamdar, has a portfolio of about 17 affordable housing projects with 2,000 units in Florida and Texas, according to its website. 

Developers have increasingly been betting on affordable and workforce housing, both asset classes in high demand. The influx of out-of-staters led to record rent increases that have priced out longtime South Floridians from market-rate apartments. 
In Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, Atlantic Pacific Companies is developing the mixed-use Atlantic Station with 616 apartments, including 360 workforce units, at 152 Northwest Eighth Street.