Affordable Housing Certifications

Developer Incentives for For-Profit & Non-Profit Developers and the Affordable Housing Certification Process

The City of Miami currently provides specific incentives to facilitate the development of affordable and workforce housing – for owner-occupancy and/or rental purposes – within City limits by both for-profit and non-profit developers. For Zoning-related questions including potential parking requirements/reductions, please contact 305-416-1495. For questions related to a parcel’s density, please contact Planning at 305-416-1400. The Department of Housing & Community Development assists in this effort by providing an Affordable Housing Certification (AHC) in certain instances to applicants, as allowable under Miami 21 and summarized below.

The AHC can be utilized to apply for the following:

Affordable Housing & Attainable Mixed-Income Housing Special Benefits (Download Flyer Here) as stipulated in Section 3.15 of Miami 21. In order to qualify as Affordable Housing (AHC needed), the owner must certify that the development will:
- provide a minimum of 80% of the Dwelling Units (Multi-family or Elderly) as Affordable Housing serving residents at or below sixty percent (60%) of the area median income (AMI) as published annually by US HUD OR
- the proposed development is a mixed-income building that will provide at least 40% of the units as Affordable Housing serving residents at or below sixty percent (60%) of AMI OR
- provide at least 20% of the units as Affordable Housing serving residents at or below fifty percent (50%) of AMI (not restricted to elderly residents) that is located within a Residential Density Increase Area as set forth in Article 4, Diagram 9 of the Miami 21 Code;
- AND provide a recorded covenant running with the land acceptable to the City of Miami, confirming the property will meet the required criteria for a period of no less than thirty (30) years from the date of the issuance of a final Certificate of Occupancy.
In order to qualify as Attainable Mixed-Income Housing (AHC needed), the owner must certify that the development will:
- provide a minimum of 40% of the Units (Multi-family or Elderly) serving residents at or below sixty percent (60%) of the area median income (AMI) and the remainder as Workforce Housing AND provide verification from Zoning that the development is located within a ¼ mile from a Transit Corridor or a half mile (1/2) from a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) OR
- provide a minimum of 20% of the units as affordable housing serving residents at or below 50% AMI and the remainder as Workforce Housing AND provide verification from Zoning that the development is located within a ¼ mile from a Transit Corridor or a half mile (1/2) from a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) OR
- Meet the criteria of either option above PLUS provide either a 5% or 10% of the dwelling units to residents at or below 30% AMI, allowing for density bonuses as specified in Miami 21
- AND provide a recorded covenant running with the land acceptable to the City of Miami, confirming the property will meet the criteria in subsection (a) above for a period of no less than thirty (30) years from the date of the issuance of a final Certificate of Occupancy.
Workforce Housing Special Benefits (Download Flyer Here) as stipulated in Section 3.16 of Miami 21, detailing incentives for the development of projects providing housing entirely for workforce populations between 60% and 140% AMI. In order to qualify as Attainable Workforce Housing (AHC needed), the development/owner must certify that the development will:
- offer a minimum of 25% of the units serving residents above 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and at or below 80% AMI, as published by US HUD annually, AND
- provide a minimum of 50% of the units as workforce housing, serving residents above 80% AMI and at or below 120% AMI as published by US HUD annually, AND
- provide the remainder as workforce housing serving residents above 60% AMI and at or below 140% AMI, as published by HUD annually AND
- provide verification from Zoning that the development is located within a ¼ mile from a Transit Corridor or a half mile (1/2) from a Transit Oriented Development (TOD).
- AND provide a recorded covenant running with the land acceptable to the City with affordability extended to 30 years from the date of the issuance of a final Certificate of Occupancy.
Impact Fee Deferral (AHC needed) - An applicant submits a petition for the affordable housing and workforce housing impact fee deferral program determination under Ord. # 12750 of the City of Miami Code, prior to or in conjunction with, the submittal of an application for a building permit. The amount in impact fees to be deferred is obtained from the Zoning Department. Affordable housing or workforce housing impact fee deferrals shall apply only to the dwelling units that qualify as affordable housing or workforce housing. Impact fees due on all portions of the development that do not qualify for deferral shall be paid in full prior to issuance of a building permit. A covenant running with the land or a deed restriction, shall be recorded on each dwelling unit by the applicant, or by the current property owner, which conforms to the requirements of the resolution establishing the affordable housing and workforce housing impact fee deferral program. The covenant or deed restriction language and form shall be acceptable to the office of the City attorney and the City may use all available legal mechanisms for collection of the impact fees due.

For additional details on applying for an Affordable Housing Certification, contact Charles McKinnon, 305-416-2084.

Developer/Builder Resources (links below)

Other requirements of participating developers/builders

Projects that receive affordable or workforce housing incentives or benefits from the City must also comply with the requirements of the two Ordinances below:

Compliance with City Of Miami Ordinance No. 13491 (NOTICE TO RESIDENTS)

Any developer with a project that receives affordable or workforce housing incentives or benefits from the City, its departments, instrumentalities or Community Redevelopment Agencies, including but not limited to, financing, grants in kind or other grants, impact fee waivers or deferrals, parking waivers or reductions, etc., shall provide written notice, 60 days prior to the initial leasing and/or sales period, to the Directors of the Housing & Community Development and the Planning & Zoning Departments so that City elected/appointed officials can notify residents of the availability of these units. Notice shall include the number of available units, street address, and contact information for the development.

Compliance with City of Miami Ordinance No. 13645 (RESIDENT PREFERENCE)

Affordable and/or Workforce Housing developments receiving any benefits (such as density bonuses, impact fee deferrals, parking waivers/reductions, building permit fee deferrals) or any funds provided by the City, regardless of the source of funds, shall first provide City Residents (residing within City boundaries for twelve consecutive months) or those employed within the City’s boundaries with preference to all restricted units, unless otherwise prohibited by law.