Since a Miami-Dade County selection committee ranked its $287-million proposal first among six firms last October, Atlantic Pacific Communities appeared to have the inside track at redeveloping Liberty Square – Miami-Dade’s oldest public-housing project.
But now allegations of malfeasance surrounding Atlantic Pacific’s 2013 takeover of 13 affordable housing buildings throughout Miami-Dade unrelated to Liberty Square could derail the company’s chances.
For months, Related Urban Development Group, the second-ranked firm headed by Miami condo king Jorge Perez, has been aggressively lobbying county officials to disqualify Atlantic Pacific due to its alleged ties to Carlisle Development Group, an affordable housing company at the center of a $26-million scandal.
By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org, Special to SouthFloridaReporter.com, Jan. 29, 2016
