Workforce Housing Virtual Workshop Program – Increasing Builder-Developer Understanding and Participation in the Production of Workforce Housing Dwelling Units.

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Understanding the requirements and nuances of developing workforce housing for small to medium sized community-based builder/developers can be a daunting task. Builder/developers must navigate both state and local government requirements to succeed including various technical zoning standards. Failing to understand these processes could discourage participation in the program, which in turn leads to failure to produce workforce housing dwellings in a time when housing affordability is a critical issue to economic and community development. To address this participation issue, Miami-Dade County’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources’ Development Services (Zoning) Division implemented the Workforce Housing Virtual Workshop Program. The Workforce Housing Virtual Workshop Program advances diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities within the County by increasing the participation of community-based small to medium sized organizations in a program that generates workforce housing dwelling units. The workshops make it possible for these organizations to gain the knowledge to create workforce housing dwelling units that benefits both the community organizations and the ultimate occupants of the newly developed workforce housing dwelling units. Since the inception of the revamped Workshop Program in 2022, there has been an increase in the participation of small to mid-sized builder/developers, an increase in workforce housing units physically constructed, and a reduction in contributions in lieu of providing the physical workforce housing units.