HUD Investigation In Miami

“Officials of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will arrive in Miami next week to investigate whether the city has reneged on an agreement it made four years ago to help fund an organization trying to help the financially distressed Wynwood area. In 1996, after a drawn-out battle, the city agreed to lend $10 million to a subsidiary of the Wynwood Community Economic Development Corp. to redevelop a 12-acre tract of land between Northwest Second and Fifth avenues and 22nd and 23rd streets that it donated to the group in 1991. So far, the corporation subsidiary, Foreign Trade Zone Inc., has received only $5.5 million. The result: A half-built warehouse sits unused at 2235 NE Fifth Ave., and little other development has taken place in the area. Miami Attorney Alejandro Vilarello said the corporation is not owed a penny more from the city.”