Naranja Grand Opens 320 Affordable Homes in South Dade

From Angela Boykin's balcony at Building 2, Naranja Grand spreads out in pale walls and gray roofs, palm trees and a parking lot marked with white arrows.

Beyond the last building sits a blue lake. Across the water, new construction is rising. String lights tangle in the black railing. Down below, the grounds are clean and tended.

At the corner of the building, a bus stop sits within reach. Across the road, steps from the front door, the Naranja Branch Library gives residents another neighborhood resource they can reach without getting in a car.

On Monday, Sept. 14, partners cut a blue “Grand Opening” ribbon at the pool, formally marking the opening of a development years in the making.

Boykin wants one thing clear: staff came through when her situation was difficult and helped residents navigate the process from application to move-in.

“I felt so welcome right at that moment,” she said. “They fought for us behind the scenes.”

Resident Norge Rodriguez returned to Miami and found herself facing a housing crisis before being welcomed into Naranja Grand. She continues to work and now has a place she can call home.

She said she sleeps at peace.

Naranja Grand I and II rise along SW 147th Avenue — a $115 million, 320-unit affordable housing community developed by Housing Trust Group and Elite Equity Development where an abandoned trailer park once stood.

About 120 apartments serve seniors age 55 and older, while approximately 200 serve families.

Miami-Dade County Commission Vice Chairman Kionne L. McGhee, whose District 9 includes the area, grew up in the former trailer park.

He spoke during the opening about the residents who once lived there and the importance of providing quality housing.

The people inside the old park were deserving people, he said, and those living in the community today “deserve dignity similar to everyone else across this country.”

McGhee also recalled the obstacles the project faced along the way.

“Even COVID stepped in and tried to prevent this from happening,” he said. “But when it is for you, it is for you.”

Matthew A. Rieger, president and CEO of Housing Trust Group, described the financing and development process as complicated, with strict deadlines and significant obstacles.

But when public and private partners share the same urgency and refuse to give up, he said, those obstacles can be overcome.

“320 homes now stand where an abandoned trailer park once sat,” Rieger said. “That isn’t merely a change in the landscape. It’s a change in the trajectory of hundreds of lives.”

He pointed to seniors living on fixed incomes and working families facing difficult housing choices.

“That is what affordable housing should be,” he said. “Not simply a roof, but a home where life can flourish.”

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava joined the ribbon cutting and spoke about housing affordability throughout the county.

“The biggest challenge to affordability is the price of housing,” Mayor Levine Cava said, adding that rents remain too high for many residents.

Projects such as Naranja Grand, she said, bring together organizations and resources capable of providing residents with greater stability and dignity.

She placed particular emphasis on seniors entering retirement age.

“We want to take good care of them as they take good care of us,” Mayor Levine Cava said.

Elite Equity Development partners Nicole and Roosevelt Bradley also joined officials at the opening.

Nicole Bradley said quality development was at the forefront when she and her father started the firm and described the partnership with Housing Trust Group as instrumental in completing the project.

From Building 2, Boykin’s balcony still looks over grass, palms and the water.

Children and neighbors can walk across the street to the library. Seniors can wait at the bus stop on the corner.

The trailer park is gone.

What remains is a community built to last — and, for the residents who now call Naranja Grand home, an opportunity that has already become part of everyday life.