A notice about the future of North Park at Scott Carver left longtime resident Caprice Brown believing her Liberty City housing complex could be demolished.<\/p>\n
The notice referenced demolition and the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program, known as RAD. Brown said previous meetings about the property\u2019s future had been canceled, leaving residents unsure of what was actually being proposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden now, they putting these notes on our door,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe weren’t warned about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Apartment buildings at North Park at Scott Carver in Miami\u2019s Liberty City neighborhood. The mixed-income development includes apartments and townhomes managed by McCormack Baron Management.<\/p>\n
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n
But Miami-Dade housing officials told The Miami Times that demolition is not part of the plan currently being contemplated.<\/p>\n
Instead, North Park could change ownership and undergo renovations through RAD, which would convert its public housing assistance from Section 9 to Section 8 and potentially bring additional money into a property where residents and officials acknowledge significant maintenance needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is set in stone yet,\u201d said Kyle Flood, director of the Development Division for Miami-Dade County Housing and Community Development (HCD). \u201cNothing has been approved by the board yet. Everything is very preliminary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county learned over the summer that affiliates of McCormack Baron, North Park\u2019s current owner and management company, were discussing selling their ownership interest and transferring management responsibilities to Smith & Henzy, Flood said. The prospective owner has expressed interest in renovating the existing apartments rather than demolishing them.<\/p>\n
North Park at Scott Carver contains 354 apartments and townhomes, including 177 public housing units that could be affected by the proposed conversion of the property\u2019s public housing assistance, according to Miami-Dade County records.<\/p>\n
For Brown, promises of renovations come after years of watching the property deteriorate.<\/p>\n
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Overgrown grass and vegetation surround an area of North Park at Scott Carver. Resident Caprice Brown said the property\u2019s landscaping has gone neglected, and raised concerns about animals and pests around the complex.<\/p>\n
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n
Walking through North Park, she pointed to tarps stretched across the roofs of several buildings and grass and vegetation growing around the property. Brown said residents have complained about roof leaks, flooding and mold, along with difficulty getting maintenance issues resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe deserve better management and a safe and respectful place to live,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe are people, not just numbers on a redevelopment plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tarps cover the roofs of several buildings at North Park at Scott Carver. Resident Caprice Brown said the tarps were placed over leaking roofs and claimed residents were told the roofs had not been repaired because of the cost.<\/p>\n
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n
Brown said some residents are reluctant to speak publicly about conditions at North Park because they fear retaliation from management. She said residents have worried that raising complaints could jeopardize their housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to get people out here because people scared to open their mouth,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut I cannot be afraid at this point. I have to say something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernadine Dent, who has lived at North Park since it opened about 14 years ago, has her own history with the property.<\/p>\n
Dent uses a wheelchair and said she spent seven years fighting McCormack Baron, with help from Legal Aid, to obtain a wheelchair-accessible ramp and parking space near her building. Before the ramp, she said, leaving her building sometimes required traveling in the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t get out of my building,\u201d Dent recalled. \u201cI had to fight them seven years with Legal Aid and ADA approval for a handicap spot and a ramp.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ac698952a796.image.jpg\")
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A wheelchair-accessible ramp at North Park at Scott Carver. Resident Bernadine Dent, who uses a wheelchair, claims she fought for seven years with the assistance of Legal Aid to have a ramp and accessible parking space installed.<\/p>\n
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade officials acknowledged receiving complaints from North Park residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have received quite a few complaints from residents out there, and we\u2019ve addressed them each individually,\u201d said Victor Atkins, HCD\u2019s assistant director for housing programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Atkins said McCormack Baron remains responsible under its current agreements for addressing problems at the property. When HCD receives a complaint, he said, the department sends it to the company through its liaison and follows up on the corresponding work order.<\/p>\n
Tanya Ragsdale, a regional manager with McCormack Baron, declined to comment on residents\u2019 concerns and referred questions to the company\u2019s corporate office.<\/p>\n
McCormack Baron also acknowledged \u201cdeferred maintenance and capital needs\u201d at North Park in a statement to The Miami Times.<\/p>\n
The company attributed those needs to several factors, including insufficient Section 9 operating subsidies, depleted reserves, pandemic disruptions and rising insurance and operating costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first priority remains safe, quality, affordable housing for North Park at Scott Carver residents,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
Atkins said the county agrees with that assessment in part.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we would actually say that that is the total sum of what has occurred out of North Park, but yes, there has been a lack of funding,\u201d Atkins said.<\/p>\n
That funding gap is part of the argument for RAD. Section 9 operating subsidies are generally lower than funding available under the Section 8 platform, Atkins said.<\/p>\n
Flood said the prospective owner is considering a \u201crefresh\u201d of the existing units and could seek additional financing through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.<\/p>\n
The terminology surrounding that process contributed to residents\u2019 fears that their homes would instead be torn down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the confusion perhaps comes in with the fact that the actual action that you must submit to HUD is referred to as a demolition\/disposition application,\u201d Atkins said, \u201cbut demolition would not be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
That clarification was news to Brown and Dent, who said the information they had received led them to believe demolition remained a possibility.<\/p>\n
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A North Park at Scott Carver resident holds a notice informing residents of an upcoming meeting regarding the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program and the future of the property.<\/p>\n
(Cassie Martinez for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n
Residents are expected to have an opportunity to ask questions at a community meeting Thursday, Oct. 8, at the NFL YET Center.<\/p>\n
Even if the buildings remain standing, renovations could temporarily displace residents from their apartments.<\/p>\n
Flood estimated relocation could last roughly 30 to 45 days, depending on the condition of a unit. Residents could stay in another available unit at North Park, an extended-stay hotel or temporarily leased housing nearby, he said.<\/p>\n
HUD\u2019s RAD rules require relocation costs to be covered and give residents in good standing the right to return following temporary relocation. Miami-Dade also requires a tenant relocation agreement providing a local right to return, Flood said.<\/p>\n
Those protections are particularly important to Dent.<\/p>\n
Before moving to North Park, she lived in the former Scott-Carver public housing development. She said she was displaced when it was demolished, and recalled ending up in a hotel with her children and riding buses while trying to secure another place to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be another story that sits on a bus stop handicapped with nowhere to live,\u201d Dent said.<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien, whose district includes portions of Liberty City and who chairs the County Commission committee overseeing housing matters, has also become involved.<\/p>\n
Dent said Bastien\u2019s office previously helped her during a dispute over renewing her lease at North Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commissioner will remain engaged throughout the process to ensure residents are protected and receive assistance,\u201d Bastien\u2019s office said in a statement to The Miami Times.<\/p>\n
For now, Flood stressed that the sale has not been completed, the RAD conversion has not been approved, and residents are not being immediately relocated.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s meeting could provide residents with more details about what comes next.<\/p>\n
Brown said residents want improvements at North Park, but what they want before those changes begin is a clearer role in deciding what happens to the place they call home.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore anything happens to our homes, residents deserve transparency and a voice in the process,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A notice about the future of North Park at Scott Carver left longtime resident Caprice Brown believing her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1571,225,227,226,1644,166428,41806,166436,166432,123,132060,76209,166435,166421,166423,166434,166430,166433,166429,166437,166420,166427,166425,166424,166422,51984,166426,166431],"class_list":["post-421681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-affordable-housing","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-housing","tag-housing-renovations","tag-liberty-city","tag-liberty-city-public-housing-renovations","tag-mccormack-baron","tag-miami","tag-miami-dade-county-housing","tag-miami-dade-housing","tag-miami-dade-rad-conversion","tag-north-park","tag-north-park-at-scott-carver","tag-north-park-at-scott-carver-redevelopment","tag-north-park-ownership-change","tag-north-park-public-housing","tag-north-park-renovations","tag-north-park-residents-demolition-concerns","tag-public-housing","tag-public-housing-residents","tag-rad-program","tag-rental-assistance-demonstration","tag-scott-carver","tag-section-8","tag-section-9","tag-smith-henzy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}