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Reports that the La Quinta Inn and Suites, located at 10821 Caribbean Blvd. near S. Dixie Highway, may be turned into housing for the homeless has sparked a reaction among Cutler Bay leaders. The Cutler Bay location is owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, a chain with thousands of hotels in more than 95 countries.
The plan sparked a reaction by Cutler Bay Mayor Tim Meerbott when it was announced that the Homeless Trust, an agency that is part of Miami-Dade County government, proposed acquiring La Quinta Inn among other county locations to serve as housing for mostly elderly people who can’t afford regular homes or apartments at their current income.
“As you may have heard, the Homeless Trust has put forward an initiative to purchase the La Quinta on Caribbean Boulevard and turn it into a homeless residence,” Mayor Meerbott said in a video press release. “It did that without any input from me or the rest of the council or from any of our citizens as well.
“I contacted them and [Miami-Dade] Mayor [Daniella Levine] Cava as well as our Commissioner [Danielle] Cohen Higgins and let them know that I thought that wasn’t the right thing to do without our input,” the mayor continued. “I asked them to take a step back for a moment so we could go ahead and understand the initiative that they wanted to move forward, and also more importantly, let them know what we wanted in our community.”
Mayor Meerbott said that in response to his request that Commissioner Cohen Higgins during the Sept. 21 second budget hearing altered the language of the proposal to remove the name of La Quinta from the list of planned acquisitions.
“Now this is not putting a stop to it completely, but it does give us more of a reset,” Meerbott said. “She asked that they go ahead and reach out to us so we can open the lines of communication to better understand each other’s positions. We are going to be having a meeting with the Homeless Trust here in our chambers in Cutler Bay to discuss this. We don’t know the exact date of that yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as possible.”
Ron Book, a longtime lobbyist and attorney working as a volunteer for the Homeless Trust, explained the reasons behind the proposed acquisition.
“The largest group of unsheltered people and the largest growing group, not just in Florida, not just in South Florida, not just in Miami but nationwide are senior citizens,” Book said.
“Not all of the people that would be living at La Quinta would be seniors, but seniors are the most vulnerable and are our top priority.
“The housing will all have been retrofitted with kitchenettes. All those individuals will have leases, all of those individuals will pay rent and there will be case managers available to all of them so that any of their needs that they are struggling with, or just looking for guidance with certain types of healthcare services, case managers will be driving that.”
Book said that the shelters are all full and something has to be done.
“I don’t have any other room,” Book said. “I would have to put 120 old people — some in their 90s, some in their 80s, some in their 70s and 60s — out on the street. I’m supposed to help end homelessness, not contribute to it.”
If Wyndham decides to sell La Quita, which reportedly has been beset with problems, to someone else or decides to develop it themselves utilizing Florida’s new Live Local Act as the owners of the Clevelander Hotel and Bar on Miami Beach are doing, the issue could become more complicated. The Live Local Act is a comprehensive, statewide workforce housing strategy, designed to increase the availability of affordable housing opportunities for Florida’s workforce, who desire to live within the communities they serve.
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