Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - April 19, 2007
Elinor J. Brecher, ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
He's 49, a recovering addict, and for the first time in his life, has a home of his own.
In South Beach, no less, just steps from Espa±ola Way.
Fernandez, a hair stylist, is the first -- and, as of Monday -- the only resident of the newly renovated Westchester Apartments, a 12,760-square-foot, 1925 Spanish/Mediterranean building at 516 15th St.
The boarded-up historic building had been trashed by fire and neglect before the Miami Beach Community Development Corp. bought it for $1.2 million, gutted it, and created 24 "affordable" units on three floors. The rehab cost: $2.8 million.
Some are studios. Others, like the one Fernandez chose, are one-bedroom flats. Each has porcelain tile floors, ceiling fans, white galley kitchens, storm-resistant windows, "balconettes" -- decorative mini-balconies -- central air and a full bath.
Two units are outfitted for hearing-impaired residents with strobe signal lights.
The rents top out at $585 a month, but Fernandez, who's been HIV-positive since 1992, occupies one of six units that the city subsidizes.
He pays only $125, plus utilities: 30 percent of his income.
Before moving in April 2, he'd been living with his mother in Hialeah. He heard about the building from his vocational-rehab counselor at Miami's Lindsey Hopkins Technical Education Center, and took his sister to see it.
"We got the key and we were just speechless," he said. 'Right in front -- I didn't care who was looking -- I got down on my knees and said, 'Thank you, God.' "
The CDC is a nonprofit founded in 1981 by the Miami Design Preservation League to revitalize neighborhoods and save Miami Beach's architectural heritage.
The Westchester is its 14th project.
"What's beautiful about these units is that even though they're small, they have high ceilings and wonderful light, great skyline and sunset views from the top floor," architect Arthur J. Marcus said.
Similar market-rate units in the neighborhood go for $900 to $1,000 a month, said Roberto Datorre, CDC president.
In the works: restoring the historic Villa Maria at 2800 Collins Ave. as housing for low-income elderly residents, with an adjacent new, six-story midrise.
"On Miami Beach, 60 percent of the people make less than $32,000," Datorre said. "We have also a home-ownership program to help people buy about 300 units throughout Miami Beach."
He added that "the fact that we preserved this historic building shows that every building can be saved. The structure was severly damaged."
It was built with terra cotta block, Marcus said, which was used in the 1920s instead of concrete block.
"The codes today don't deal with terra cotta block, so our structural engineer had to redesign the western wall to conform with the code," he said.
One of his favorite features is a pair of silvery finials atop the barrel-tile roof.
"From the original architectural drawings that we have that survived, there were these wonderful finials," Marcus said.
"They're decorative . . . It's been restored back to probably better looking than it ever was."
For Jorge Luis Fernandez, "It's a dream come true. I'm amazed at what I got for pennies."
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