‘We have several problems.’ Liberty Square residents voice concerns about mold and cracked ceilings
More than 100 Liberty Square residents and community advocates attended a town hall Wednesday evening to call attention to the issues on the property in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.
During a little more than a hour, about a dozen tenants listed their complaints, which included leaky ceilings, mold and a lack of handicap accessible accommodations such as parking spaces and ramps. They also discussed securing the right to return for old residents of Liberty Square, many of whom have taken housing vouchers elsewhere.
Most of the residents blamed the Related Group, the developer that won the bid to build the new Liberty Square in July 2016. No one from Related Group was invited to Wednesday’s meeting so that criticism could be aired without fear of retribution.
In 2015, Miami-Dade County created Liberty
City Rising, a multi-million dollar plan that would revitalize the eponymous community. A key part of that plan was a partnership with Related Urban, which is the affordable-housing arm of the Related Group and would redevelop Liberty Square from public housing into mixed-income apartments. Originally scheduled to open in 2020, Liberty Square is still under construction. The third of nine phases opened in April 2022, yet the project won’t be completed until 2026. Some of the amenities will include a supermarket and an education center. When completed, the complex will feature 1,455 units, 640 of them reserved for public housing. The other 815 will be a mix of affordable, workforce and market-rate units.
But residents who have moved in are already signaling red flags.
“We have several problems,” Liberty Square resident Maria Williams told the audience. She had issues with the cracked ceilings, leaks and even termites, which she claimed had bitten her legs. “When they come, they don’t want to address the issue or they’ll say ‘We’re coming’ and don’t show up.”
Many of the complaints heard at Wednesday’s town hall echoed those of residents featured in “Razing Liberty Square,” a recently released PBS documentary that explored how sea rise and gentrification have begun to change the historically Black neighborhood of Liberty City. The meeting came as a result of the documentary due to filmmaker Katja Esson’s collaboration with activists to create an action plan. Included in that plan are better property managers, improved building conditions, a contract for the nearby school Multi-Ethnic Youth Group Association (MEYGA) to be on the property, the “right to return” for original residents and an updated community-benefits agreement, or a list of agreedupon terms by developers and residents to ensure they aren’t pushed out or treated unfairly.
“If we are not an organized force, this city is going to continue to work until you don’t live here,” said Black Men Build cofounder Phil Agnew, who moderated the town hall.
Added Agnew: “The plans for this city don’t involve Liberty City being Black.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development Director Alex R. Ballina attended. Levine Cava agreed to the aforementioned demands, some of which she mentioned were already in progress, while Ballina assured that all former Liberty Square residents, including those who took housing vouchers to move elsewhere, could move back if they so choose.
“We will have monthly meetings so we can hold me accountable,” Ballina said, later adding, “Everyone has a right to return.”
Trenise Bryant, the coexecutive director of organizing and communications of Struggle for Miami’s Affordable and Sustainable Housing
(SMASH), recommended that Ballina’s office create an intake form and go door-to-door throughout Liberty Square so that all residents’ issues can be heard.
“There’s a structural problem,” Bryant said, referring to Related’s construction.
Bryant brought Samantha Kenley, one of the main characters of “Razing Liberty Square,” up to speak. A mother with seven children, Kenley lived in the old Liberty Square — known as the Pork ’N Beans — before deciding to move into the new one due to the promise of a shiny, new building. Her fantasy soon came to an end after she moved and had to use buckets to collect the rainfall that poured in from the cracked ceiling.
“I’ve met with HUD,” Kenley said, referring to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. “I’ve met with the mayor. I’m a resident just like y’all with the same issues, the same problems.”
Kenley commended Levine Cava and Ballina for trying to help, adding, “This not his fault — he just got here. He’s trying. It’s not the mayor’s fault. She just got here. She’s trying. It’s previous administrations that did this to us.”
She then concluded with a message of hope.
“Please fight,” Kenley said. “Please don’t give up. Please do what y’all need to do because if we shut up, nothing is going to happen.”