A rendering showing a westward look of the proposed 22-acre Eastside Ridge mixed-use project in Little Haiti. This shows the entrance from Northeast 54th Street through Third Court.

The exclusion of affordable housing from a major project near Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood is holding up consideration. A city board takes issue with the plan since the project is poised to push out low- and moderate-income residents. SPV Realty LLC wants to replace the Design Place apartments on the southeast corner of Northeast 54th Street and Second Avenue with 5.4 million square feet of new development in 14 buildings on more than 22 acres. Eastside Ridge would have 3,157 residential units, 418 hotel rooms, 97,103 square feet of offices, 283,798 square feet of other commercial space and 5,246 parking spaces. The plan calls for a train station with the property bounded on the east by the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, where Virgin Trains USA already runs and where the the public Tri-Rail also wants to start commuter service. Eastside Ridge has proved controversial as opponents say it's too big — some towers could be 28 stories in an area dominated by one- and two-story homes and businesses — and would replace the relatively cheaper Design Place and encourage more gentrification in Little Haiti. "The idea that the existing condition is untenable is not accurate. It served a purpose for our community, and we fear the loss of that," Wendy Stephan of the Buena Vista neighborhood said during a planning board meeting last week. "We don't see anything here that is beneficial to the community. We see harm." She refuted a claim by the developer's attorney, Vicky Leiva, about Design Place, which was built in 1948. While it's not officially designated as affordable housing, it offer lower rents than many of the luxury multifamily buildings rising across Miami. A one-bedroom unit was listed for $1,350 a month and a two-bedroom unit for $1,500 on apartmentfinder.com. The developer's attorney and architect said plans have been tweaked to make the project more to scale with the area, with taller buildings rising in the site's center instead of fronting major thoroughfares, and the developer is offering many benefits. Those include a promise that 10% of the units would be workforce housing; two 1.5-acre parks, one in the center and another on Second Avenue; a 2,000-square-foot meeting space for community groups; a commitment that 25% of construction jobs would be for Miami residents, and Little Haiti residents would be prioritized; and a commitment that 40% of permanent jobs would be for Miami-Dade County residents. Also, the developer vowed to put $10 million into a community fund, with $7 million designated for neighborhood affordable housing. But most members of the Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board said it's just not enough. "I have a very serious issue with this project," board member Miguel Soliman said at the meeting. "I see this as New York developers who are greedy, trying to get more and giving very, very little. They are not even here. They are not entitled for any of what they are asking. Providing 10% workforce housing — to me that's a joke." All of the jobs, and not just some of them, should go to Miami-Dade County residents, he added. On Wednesday, the board delayed the project by deferring a decision to change the site's future land use map, which is necessary for the project to move forward. Eastside Ridge has applied for a special area plan, a city code provision that allows developers to build more than allowed in exchange for public benefits. Eastside's SAP is a two-part application, the SAP itself and the land use change. While the board is advisory and any decision is merely a recommendation to the City Commission, votes are needed for Eastside to move to the next step. That's why Leiva, a Bilzin Sumberg partner, implored the board Wednesday to move on the application, even if that meant recommending denial. She claimed due process rights violations since the plan has been pending for almost three years and attacks on her client's character. The project is headed by Justin Podolsky, part of the New York-based Podolsky family. "The only way way to cure this defect is to deny this application as strongly as you feel and move it on," Leiva said. "You are Googling my client to decide the character of my client to decide on a black letter vote." The board voted 6-4 to defer the land-use change to Oct. 16 and tied on a motion to deny the SAP. That means the SAP can move to the City Commission without a recommendation from the board. The commission can hear the SAP but can't approve it without the land-use change, planning department staff members told the Daily Business Review after the meeting. On Wednesday, all 17 speakers opposed the project. "Look at this picture and tell me, 'Is that really in scale with the surrounding area?' This is all a two-story area, yet they want to come in with 28 stories and somehow convince you that this is in scale and character," said Morningside resident Elvis Cruz, pointing to a project rendering. "This is greed, pure and simple." Board members echoed residents' concerns. The Design Place for decades has been home to people who work in the community and can't afford higher rent, board member Adam Gersten said. "To replace that with this goes against what we are hearing the community needs," he said. The Kobi Karp architectural firm said the project has been tweaked and looks different from the rendering Cruz used. Leiva said the developer agreed to improve streets and the project would alleviate the affordable housing crisis by increasing supply. That's not how board member Anthony Parrish sees it. Projects like this are good news for nearby property owners as their property values increase as new developments rise, but renters are left behind, struggling to keep up with rents that also rise as a result, he said. "A rising tide rises all boats. That may be true when you own the boat, but if you rent you'll likely end up drowning."