In February, the 70-year-old Rader Memorial United Methodist Church under demolition in El Portal. Developers have plans for the site.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
Adam Neumann, the co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, and his wife Rebekah want to build a private school in El Portal, a small Miami-Dade town of about 2,000 residents. Neighbors are fighting the proposal, and the developer’s suggestion of an affordable housing project as an alternative has only deepened the conflict.
FULL STORY: WeWork founder wants to build a Miami project. Why neighbors are fighting it
Here are key takeaways:
• The school, called SOLFL (pronounced “soulful”), would serve up to 350 kindergarten through 12th grade students on the site of the former Rader Memorial United Methodist Church. It’s a rebranding of WeGrow, a school Rebekah Neumann founded that closed about two years after opening.
• Demolition of the 70-year-old church — which was being considered for historic preservation — began Feb. 10, days before the first public meeting on the project. El Portal Mayor Omarr Nickerson called it a “blind-sided, sneak attack.”
• When residents rejected the school proposal at a February meeting, developer representative Jeffrey Davis raised the possibility of building affordable housing under Florida’s Live Local Act, which lets developers bypass local zoning. A land-use attorney hired by residents called that tactic a “threat to neighbors and local governments to basically strong-arm approval.”
• Residents have raised concerns about an eight-foot wall around the school, added traffic, tuition listed at up to $45,000 per year and the fact that a nonprofit school wouldn’t generate tax revenue for the town.
• The project still needs approval from both El Portal’s planning and zoning committee and the village council. Councilperson Charles Winters said it had not yet been rescheduled, and Village Attorney Joe Geller said the process will likely take at least a few months.
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