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Contentious Crosswinds Project Up For A Vote Again

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Nov 28, 2007 11:06 am US/Eastern

Contentious Crosswinds Project Up For A Vote Again

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Residents of Overtown are expected to pack Wednesday's Miami City Commission meeting to speak out against a proposed multi-million dollar luxury condominium project to be built of 12 acres of public land.

For the last three years, the Crosswinds project has met heavy opposition from activists and Overtown residents who say it does nothing to help the poor residents of the black neighborhood. The project was approved in 2006, but opponents won a legal battle in court which forced the commission to take up the vote a second time.

The Power U Center for Social Change, Inc., an Overtown activist group, says black residents of Overtown were forced out for the construction of I-95, forced out of Overtown for Urban Renewal, and are now being forced out so a developer can build luxury condo's that Overtown residents won't be able to afford.

The group also questions the financial feasibility of the project. A new report indicates Miami is second only to Tampa as the worst housing market in the country. Power U points says if the Miami's Mayor and Commissioners have their way, Crosswinds will build more than a thousand condos only blocks from hundreds of unsold condos, while current residents struggle to find quality housing they can afford.

Crosswinds' developer counters that the first building in the project won't be completed until at least 2009 and which gives enough time for the real estate market to rebound.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.