Some Cutler Bay residents are opposing new proposed plans to turn a nearby hotel into low income housing.
The Homeless Trust proposed to purchase a La Quinta located off of Caribbean Boulevard, and turn it into low income housing, not a homeless shelter as has been said on social media.
“Number one, somebody is making it up, and number two, somebody is exaggerating it," said Miami-Dade Homeless Trust Chairman Ron Book.
Book told NBC6 bad information started spreading on social media when residents learned that The Homeless Trust was buying the Cutler Bay hotel.
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“We are not having a needle exchange," Book said. "We are not randomly placing people there.”
Book told NBC6 that their plan is to turn this hotel into affordable housing for formerly homeless people to help address the housing crisis.
He says all the residents will have leases and must abide by the rules, if not, they will be evicted.
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“The notion that we are going to create problems in the community is just unsure," Book said. "90 percent or more of the people that will live there are over the age of 60.”
But not everyone is convinced is a good idea, including leaders at a town hall
“Is that the best and highest use of that property as it stands today?” asked Cutler Bay Town Manager Rafel Casals.
He saw the news on social media and got concerned, saying this is not the ideal location for homeless shelter or low income housing because it’s directly across the street from a new billion-dollar development project.
“From our standpoint from the town of Cutler Bay, we’re going through a big boom right now in terms of development in the pocket we are in," Casals said. "There is going to be a $1.5 billion development that is going to become multi-family homes, a hospital, groceries.”
The Homeless Trust told NBC6 it is moving forward with the purchase, but that it is willing to work with the town to accommodate concerns.
On November 29 at 6 p.m. there will be a town hall meeting that will be open to the public to further address these concerns.
