by James McClister

Approval of $17.5 million section of TriRail through Overtown offers low income area opportunity to improve walkability

As Miami continues construction on its ambitious All Aboard Florida project, which aims to link Miami’s downtown with Orlando, the city is being forced to address numerous criticisms, including allegations that a $1.75 billion tax exempt bond helping fund the project was issued “unlawfully” and collective complaints from three county sheriffs (St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River) who said in a letter the additional rail lines are “bifurcating” their respective jurisdictions and presenting “real-time dilemmas” for emergency responders. But in a move that is unlikely to draw much negative backlash, the Miami City Commission, acting as the board of the Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency, recently voted in a unanimous decision to approve the release of $17.5 million in tax rebates to fund a new section of TriRail. The rail line represents an opportunity of further economic growth for a long time low-income area that’s currently going through a boom.

When the commission approved the $17.5 million contribution from the Community Redevelopment Agency, it was under the stipulations that: poor Overton residents will ride TriRail free; and All Aboard Florida agrees to reserve 40 percent of its unskilled construction jobs for the new platform and 20 percent of station operation-related jobs for residents of the redevelopment area and some of Miami’s other poorest ZIP codes.

Additional conditions were agreed to in a separate June letter to the CRA board from Michael Reininger, president of All Aboard Florida. He guaranteed community space to the agency at its downtown complex, MiamiCentral, as well as discounted rents for tenants from the redevelopment area and the opportunity of paid internships for local teenagers.

“We are proud to expand upon our current partnership with the CRA,” Reininger wrote. “All Aboard Florida has repeatedly demonstrated its desire to both advance its project and the welfare of the Overtown community.”

As construction on the rail line moves forward and the platform is complete, All Aboard Florida’s concession will resonate in the local economy and further ferry growth, but the more potent effect might be the improved walkability in the Overtown community.

The Walkability Bump

People will pay for convenience.

“I think walkability is becoming more and more important to my clients today,” said Brianna Gallagher, a Realtor with Ancona Real Estate. “Our culture is all about convenience, and people love the idea of being able to walk outside their front door and have everything they need within reach.”

In a 2012 study from the Brookings Institution in Wastington, D.C., the group found that in the immediate area, renters were willing to adjust budgets if it meant living in a walkable neighborhood. On a scale of one (completely non-walkable) to five (very walkable), renters would pay upwards of $300 more for an apartment scored a “2” over a “1,” and for apartments that scored a “5” rental budgets would go up $1,200.

The Portland-based City Observatory, a site that analyzes urban regions and policy issues, wrote in a recent commentary that “one of the best sources of evidence of the value of walkability is home values…even in turbulent real estate markets.”

According to Zillow, which produces its own “Walk Score,” the estimated effect of a 15 point improvement in walkability across a 100-point scale would increase home values by an average of about 12 percent nationally, and by 21 percent in Miami.

Currently, Zillow places Overtown’s median home value at $151,100. According to the Miami Association of Realtors, the city’s overall median home price $282,000.

While it’s unlikely TriRail’s new platform will fully close the gap between Overtown’s median home price and the city’s baseline, the improved walkability and economic opportunity could very well shorten it.