Alonzo Mourning's Courtside II Opens in Overtown, Adding 120 Affordable Apartments With Rents From $683

A $58 million affordable apartment complex backed by Miami Heat great Alonzo Mourning opened Friday in Overtown. It adds 120 income-restricted homes to a historically Black neighborhood north of downtown Miami, where rising rents have pushed out many longtime residents. Courtside II was developed by Miami-based Housing Trust Group and AM Affordable Housing, the nonprofit Mourning started. It finishes a project on county-owned land that the county first leased for affordable housing in 2008.

Rents start at $683 a month, according to WLRN, and the development is now taking applications. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called the project "the opposite of gentrification" at Friday's grand opening.

What opened in Overtown

Courtside II has 120 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in two seven-story buildings at Northwest Third Avenue and 17th Street, according to the county's announcement of the December 2024 groundbreaking. The county said units would be reserved for households earning 50%, 60% and 70% of the area median income. WLRN reported that the finished project targets households across a range from 30% to 70% of the median.

Amenities include a fitness center, a dog park, bike storage and a clubhouse. Apartments have Energy Star appliances and vinyl flooring. The developers also planned on-site literacy, financial and employment assistance programs for residents.

Construction started in December 2024. The county had projected completion in early 2026, so the opening came several months later than first planned but well ahead of the April 2027 construction deadline the County Commission set in 2024.

How the $58 million came together

Like most affordable housing in Florida, Courtside II is paid for through layers of public and private money. WLRN reported that the financing included public and private loans from lenders including JPMorgan Chase and from Miami-Dade County's Affordable Housing Surtax Program. The county's Public Housing and Community Development department committed $2.5 million in surtax money and 30 project-based vouchers, which cover part of the rent for qualifying tenants, according to the county. The surtax program is paid for by a documentary stamp surtax on certain real estate transactions in Miami-Dade, so part of the money behind Courtside II comes from the county's own property market.

County records show the deal also relied on construction and permanent loans arranged through the Housing Finance Authority of Miami-Dade County, along with tax credit investors. In April 2024, county commissioners approved changes to the decades-old lease that lenders and investors needed before closing. The resolution, sponsored by District 3 Commissioner Keon Hardemon, rewrote the lease to add lender protections, which county attorneys said were required to make the loans viable in the secondary mortgage market, including Freddie Mac.

An 18-year path on county land

The site's history explains why Courtside II took so long. Miami-Dade first signed a ground lease with Alonzo Mourning Charities on Dec. 2, 2008, for affordable housing for families and seniors on the county-owned parcel, according to the April 2024 county resolution. The county commission amended the lease several times over the following decade to extend deadlines for financing and construction.

The first phase, the 84-unit Courtside Family Apartments, opened in September 2016. By the time of the 2024 resolution, the county said all 84 units were leased to residents earning less than 60% of the area median income, with rents of $760 to $990 a month. WLRN reported that the first phase cost $22.8 million.

The second phase was first planned as housing for seniors. In 2016, the lease was assigned to AM Affordable Housing, a nonprofit whose sole mission is affordable housing. In 2020, commissioners extended the lease term from 65 to 75 years and opened the second phase to families as well as seniors.

The people behind it

Mourning, a Hall of Famer who spent most of his NBA career with the Heat, has been involved in Overtown for decades. He helped found the Overtown Youth Center in 2003, and WLRN reported that his own time in foster care shapes his community work. At Friday's opening, he said, "Overtown is a neighborhood with a proud history, strong people, a strong identity, a bright future."

Housing Trust Group president and chief executive Matthew Rieger said developers have "an obligation to make sure the people who have been a part of this community for generations" can stay there, according to WLRN.

Levine Cava described displacement as the core of the problem. "Gentrification is when you push the people out who make the community," she said.

Miami's affordability gap

The project arrives in one of the country's most expensive rental markets. Miami Homes For All, a housing advocacy group, estimates Miami-Dade is short more than 90,000 affordable units for households earning below 80% of the area median income, WLRN reported. Federal Reserve data show rents in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro area have risen more than 50% since January 2020, and more than half of Miami renters were cost-burdened in 2024, meaning they spent at least 30% of their income on rent. Separately, WLRN reported this week that Miami ranks sixth among U.S. cities for one-bedroom rents, at about $2,500 a month.

Levine Cava declared a housing crisis in 2024. The county says it has since built 12,000 affordable and workforce units, has 22,000 more in the pipeline and plans a new initiative to reach 47,000 units.

Overtown carries a particular history of displacement. The neighborhood once had about 50,000 residents. After Interstate 95 was cut through it in the late 1960s, forcing many families to relocate, its population fell to about 10,000.

What's next

Courtside II is now leasing, and applications are being taken through the development's website, courtside2htgm.com. Because the units are income-restricted, applicants must document household income below the limits for their unit type. The 30 voucher-supported units are tied to the county's public housing programs.

With both phases complete, the Courtside site now holds 204 affordable apartments. A 2013 lease amendment gave the tenant the right to add a third phase of up to 80 units on part of the second-phase land, according to county records, though later amendments adjusted the unit requirements and no third phase has been announced.

For the county, the opening adds to the count of income-restricted units it is trying to deliver under the mayor's housing push. For Overtown, it is a test of whether new construction can keep longtime families in place as development pressure builds around downtown Miami.