Rents going through the roof: Tech and the 'San Francisco-ization' of Miami

During the pandemic, immoderate large cities crossed the state saw an exodus, accompanied by a dip successful rental prices—but Miami is experiencing conscionable the opposite.

Drawn by the year-round sunshine and beaches, the metropolis became a destination for radical from places similar New York, Chicago and San Francisco. With the assistance of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami pitched itself arsenic tech's newest blistery spot, with Microsoft, task superior steadfast Founders Fund and backstage equity elephantine Blackstone, among others, opening offices. Miami was dubbed the aboriginal superior of cryptocurrency.

While this whitethorn mean much jobs, lodging advocates accidental they spot Miami suffering the aforesaid destiny arsenic tech's archetypal blistery spot, the San Francisco Bay Area.

When companies similar Facebook and Google were rapidly expanding successful the aboriginal 2000s, San Francisco and the greater Bay Area saw lodging prices soar. Many traditionally low-income, migrant neighborhoods were soon flooded with newcomers with high-paying tech jobs.

As prices went up, truthful did evictions and displacement, and yet San Francisco became the astir costly metropolis successful the country. Just earlier the pandemic began past year, the mean terms of a location successful San Francisco was $1.46 cardinal and the mean rent connected a two-bedroom flat was $4,600 a month.

Now, determination is interest that it could hap here.

"Tech is truly hurting Miami successful presumption of lodging costs," said Ned Murray, the manager of the Florida International University Metropolitan Center. "We can't speech astir the system without talking astir housing, they're truthful interrelated. ... What's happening present is simply a hyper-level of gentrification. It's unbelievable to spot it happening truthful quickly."

The mean rent for a two-bedroom flat successful the metropolis of Miami is presently $2,748 a month, a 17% summation twelvemonth implicit year. In the 3 years earlier the pandemic, mean rents were comparatively stable, ranging betwixt $2,200 and $2,450 for a two-bedroom apartment. In April of this year, rent prices began to ascent dramatically, according to information from Zumper. Between June and July alone, Miami rents accrued by 5.3%, making it 1 of the highest increases successful rent prices successful the country. The mean terms to acquisition a location successful the metropolis of Miami is $414,625, up 12% twelvemonth implicit year.

Robert Rexach, who worked arsenic a graphic decorator for a cruise institution earlier being laid disconnected during the pandemic, says he's seen what helium calls a "San Francisco-ization" occurring successful South Florida, wherever lone the elite tin spend to live.

"The outgo of surviving is inactive excessively precocious for what I'm earning," Rexach said, adding he's lone capable to spend to unrecorded successful Miami acknowledgment to a benignant landlord who hasn't raised the rent connected his one-bedroom flat successful the Roads for years, keeping it astatine $1,150/month. "People are going to get priced out."

The translation and gentrification is truthful akin to San Francisco's that Miami-area nonprofits are turning to organizations successful the Bay Area for guidance.

Chris Gil works for the Mission Economic Development Association, based successful 1 of the astir gentrified neighborhoods successful San Francisco, and is advising the Allapattah Collaborative, a nonprofit that works to empower small, section businesses successful the neighborhood.

He says Miami's geographically constricted abstraction to physique much lodging and the caller question of tech and concern companies with well-paid workers who privation to unrecorded successful municipality centers are among the characteristics that reflector San Francisco. It means that centrally located, traditionally affordable neighborhoods similar Allapattah, Little Haiti and Little Havana are ripe for gentrification.

Those neighborhoods are already seeing accelerated development. Allapattah, with its proximity to downtown, the airdrome and its waterfront determination connected the Miami River, has caught the oculus of developers.

Mileyka Burgos-Flores, the laminitis of the Allapattah Collaborative, says galore of the caller buildings going up aren't being built for the radical who person agelong lived successful Allapattah, wherever the median income is $34,510.

"We similar tech but we request to recognize amended what happened successful San Francisco," she said of Suarez's propulsion to lure tech companies from the Bay Area to Miami. "Tech is fine, but to taxable a metropolis that is surviving a pandemic, 1 of the poorest cities successful the country, with a horrible acquisition strategy and precocious percent of immigrants who don't talk English and aren't digitally included—there is simply a batch connected the enactment for us."

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2021 Miami Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.