Displaced Temple Court Apartments residents have options for new homes
MIAMI - More than 70 people who lost their homes at the Temple Court Apartments to a massive fire just over a month ago may have found a new place to call home.
Sawyer's Walk is a new affordable senior living complex in Overtown with 578 units. The developer says it is the largest affordable senior living project in the country in the last decade.
Miami City Commission Chair Christine King says residents can apply for housing vouchers through HUD for the residents to use at Sawyer's Walk, or at two other locations. King says the city and county are helping with that process.
"Most of the units that we have are in buildings that are brand new," King said.
City officials say that 63 of the displaced residents have been living at a Motel 6 in Doral since the fire. Clementina Morales' mother is one of them. She spoke to CBS News Miami a week ago.
"She still has to pay rent," Morales said. "She eats cold food."
She's unsure of where her mother will go next.
"No. No," Morales said when asked if this is sustainable.
The Co-owner of the building says he has about 100 units available, and says those displaced residents will pay the same rent as their last apartment.
"They're kinda lucky in this case," Michael Swerdlow, a co-owner. "Because we still have room. If it was three months from now we would not have been able to accommodate them."
The displaced residents can pay a portion of their rent to their old property manager to cover their lodging costs for now, but Commissioner King is hoping to get them into permanent housing in about a month.