Real estate developer newcomer to Miami plans to build workforce housing, hire local talent
A real estate investment management and development company from Atlanta is coming to Miami next month, following a wave of technology and finance companies. And it’s looking for local talent to build much-needed workforce housing.
The leader of the Carroll Organization said Thursday he plans to open an office in either Miami Beach or the Design District in March.
Founder and CEO M. Patrick Carroll told the Miami Herald his company plans to hire between 25 and 50 employees for property management and development positions. He wants at least half of his staff to be from the Miami area. Salaries will start at $200,000 a year, which is 285% above the median household income of $58,000 in Miami-Dade County.
Miami is ripe for less expensive workforce housing given the region’s population growth, limited supply of houses for sale, the high sale prices of homes and escalating apartment rents. In fact, RealtyHop just called Miami the least affordable housing market in the country.
“Whenever rent increases, it makes it even more important to have workforce housing. It’s where people working in the workforce live, including teachers and firemen,” Carroll said. “As the city continues to expand, we need all of the housing to facilitate that growth.”
Carroll is hunting for interns and MBA graduates from local universities and veteran real estate professionals from companies like Related and ZOM Living.
“If someone has been here a long time, they know who to talk to, they know how things get built,” Carroll said. “It’s easier for them to point me in the right direction.”
The Miami outpost will be the firm’s sixth office, in addition to locations in New York, Tampa, Dallas, Denver and Raleigh.
The office expansion comes after Carroll bought a two-story, 8,000-square-foot house in Miami Beach for $16 million in January. The Tampa native is familiar with Miami, he said, having family here while growing up and later partying in South Beach as an adult.
He decided to call Miami his home after Oren Alexander, a Realtor with Douglas Elliman and the broker for Carroll’s residence, informed him of all of the wealth that recently decided to call Miami home. Executive transplants include Apax Partners’ Jason Wright, Thoma Bravo founder Orlando Bravo and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.
Carroll said he plans to build housing targeted for area workers and apartment rental buildings with market-level rents in Miami Beach, Edgewater and the Design District.
Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida CEO Kimberly Henderson said Carroll’s intent to include workforce housing in his firm’s development strategy would make a difference. She hopes any mixed-income housing projects would have at least 30% of the units priced at a discount for area workers.
“You don’t want a situation where people who are invested emotionally and are rooted here feel like they no longer belong,” Henderson said. “It is not a poor person’s issue. It is an issue for a lot of us.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
