SMART GROWTH COMES TO HIALEAH, FLA
Hialeah Mayor Julia Robaina is a Realtor and developer specializing in condo conversions in urban areas throughout Florida.
“When most cities look at revitalizing an area, the developers come calling for tax abatements and the cities grant them. We said we are not going to grant tax abatements, but we said we are going to invest in the developments,” he said.
“Our investment was infrastructure: we put in better water, sewer, sidewalks, streetscapes, traffic circles, street trees – right up to the developer’s door. That way, if the developer succeeded, his development would provide the tax boost needed to pay off that infrastructure cost over time. If he went belly up, we still had the improvements in place for the next guy to succeed in downtown Hialeah – and we weren’t on the line for tax abatements,” Robaina said.
In the annexation area, Robaina said the city’s aim is a master plan that is restrictive in demanding pedestrian pathways, green space, mix of housing types, retail that has good urban qualities and flexibility allowing developers to serve the needs of the community they are building for.
“The best thing you can do for an investor is deliver predictability,” he said. “If you say the maximum density for townhouses in this area is X number of units and the max for apartments in this spot is X, the developers know what they can build. And they know that someone else can’t come in after them and get double the density or build something not as high quality as what they developed.”
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