Alonzo Mourning is taking his Miami legacy beyond the basketball court and into South Dade’s housing crunch. The former Heat star, teaming up with Coconut Grove-based Housing Trust Group, has locked in a $55.4 million financing package for Artisan Pointe, a 115-unit affordable housing project at 26115 South Dixie Highway in Naranja.
The first phase is already under construction, and the development team is aiming to deliver the complex by January 2028. All of the units are slated for households earning 30, 60 and 70 percent of the area median income, a structure that developers say is designed to bring deeper affordability to a part of Miami-Dade County that has watched prices run ahead of wages.
How the money stacks up
According to The Real Deal, the financing package is a patchwork of public and private capital. The deal includes $31.5 million in low-income housing tax credit equity and a $16.9 million permanent loan arranged by Berkadia, along with $7 million in support from the Naranja Lakes Community Redevelopment Agency.
The Real Deal also reports that U.S. Bancorp is providing a $39 million construction loan that will cover on-site work and vertical construction. Taken together, the layered financing is structured to fill the gap between what it costs to build in South Florida and what lower income tenants can realistically pay.
Local redevelopment support
Per Naranja Lakes CRA, Artisan Pointe is listed as a planned project at 26115 South Dixie Highway and is backed by a $3.5 million grant and a $3.5 million tax increment financing rebate from the agency. The CRA describes the site as a vacant parcel near the South Dade Transitway and frames the project as a mixed-income affordable housing development intended to put an underused property back to work.
Rents, AMI and who benefits
Developer estimates reported by The Real Deal suggest that a one-bedroom unit reserved for households at 30 percent of area median income would rent for about $766 a month. At the higher end of the income band, a two-bedroom at 70 percent of AMI is projected at roughly $2,145 a month.
Miami-Dade County housing documents put the area median income at $89,800, and those county tables are used to calculate the income limits and rent ceilings that apply to the different unit tiers at Artisan Pointe. In practical terms, the project is aimed at working households who earn too much to qualify for deeply subsidized housing but too little to keep up with prevailing market rents.
Site, timeline and developer track record
Local reporting shows that an affiliate of Housing Trust Group acquired the roughly 4.3-acre site for about $10.4 million. HawkinsCRE covered the sale, and earlier planning documents for the address outlined a multi-building proposal, according to Florida YIMBY.
Mourning’s AM Affordable Housing platform and Housing Trust Group have been active in the affordable space. The same team recently closed separate financing on the Villa Jordana senior housing project, as reported by Commercial Observer, which industry watchers see as evidence that this is not a one-off effort.
Why this matters for South Dade
Developers and local officials say that deals like Artisan Pointe, which blend low-income housing tax credit equity with bank debt and CRA subsidies, are becoming the default playbook for building below-market housing in high-cost regions. The math simply does not work without multiple layers of support.
Realtor.com recently noted that even as rent growth cools, asking rents across South Florida remain relatively high compared to many other markets. That backdrop keeps demand strong for subsidized units that offer predictable, regulated pricing.
County and CRA materials describe Artisan Pointe as a long-term investment in Naranja that is meant to broaden rental choices and inject modest economic activity into a corner of South Dade that has not seen much modern development. If the financing holds and construction stays on track, Mourning’s latest Miami win could arrive in the form of keys handed to tenants rather than a trophy hoisted at midcourt.
