An affordable housing development by Jewish Community Services on the grounds of a middle school on Miami Beach’s Washington Avenue has received support from the City of Miami Beach and continues to negotiate with the Miami-Dade County Public School system so the land can be conveyed Can go County for a lease.

Jewish Community Service, a social service organization that is nearly 103 years old, is moving forward with its plan to develop affordable housing within 8 acres of the Feinberg-Fisher K8 School. Jewish Community Services currently leases 7,573 square feet at 610 Española Way – a parking lot and two buildings – to provide social services to elderly residents of Miami Beach and surrounding areas.

In order to develop this project, which has not yet been finalized, the organization must continue negotiations with the school board to lease the land to Miami-Dade County to lease to the social service organization.

The City of Miami Beach, in a resolution sponsored by Mayor Dan Gelber that passed unanimously, included Jewish Community Services in its plan to continue negotiations with the school system to provide affordable and workforce housing at the site of the Feinberg-Fisher campus. gave his support to , said Miriam Singer, president and CEO of Jewish Community Services.

He said the school board also unanimously approved allowing its staff to continue negotiating with Jewish Community Services for programming needs needed to develop the housing project. “So, we’re really looking forward to getting those program requirements going, and to continuing our very positive conversations as partners in this with the school system and Miami-Dade County,” she said.

Those programmatic requirements list the benefits to the school system of project development. “Once we get those done,” Ms. Singer said, “we will start talking about the legislative actions needed for the school system to lease the land. Then, the county will continue to work with us as the entity responsible for development, programming and other services for the foreseeable future.”

Ms. Singer also stated that the vision for this housing project is only preliminary drawings and will not be the final design. “We are not spending money on architects until we have the transfer of property processed. We also want to make sure that whatever rendering comes in, it suits the community in the area, it [it] There is a complement to the community and there is a historically designated building on the site that may be part of the project.

Ms Singer said the organization could gain site control by the end of July. After that the construction will take 24 to 36 months.

The non-profit organization has over 40 years of service in Miami Beach as a community-based agency providing services to individuals with transitional difficulties, long-term difficulties or trauma. “We provide four unique pillars of service, which include food services, case management, mental health services for children and adults, and informational referrals and access to other community services,” Ms. Singer said.

It also provides care services to over 400 senior citizens whose average age is 90 years; a food bank that serves 900 individuals a month; and a meal and grocery delivery service to over 600 seniors every week, among other services.

“we see it [affordable housing project] as possible,” Ms. Singer said, “and it holds a lot of promise, not only for the Miami Beach community, but perhaps for other similar projects in the future that JCS will be involved in, whether it’s with the school system or other government entity having footprint and interest in collaborating and becoming a partner.