6BB
AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE SUN SENTINEL
FORT LAUDERDALE CRA
By: Mikki Royce
Jonathan Brown
Jonathan Brown was hired to manage
the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Housing and
Community Development Division (HCD) in
2009. During those years, he and his team
managed to clear up all previous issues and
the division successfully spent over $110
million in HCD Programs. In 2015, he
applied for and received the
Northwest-Progresso-Flagler Heights (NPF)
ENTREPRENEUR
By: Zachary Rinkins
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017
CREATING THE FUTURE RIGHT NOW
Community Redevelopment Area (CRA)
Manager posi�on and s�ll con�nues to
manage HCD as well.
Under his leadership, the CRA has taken
a more aggressive posi�on on development
and redevelopment, with a focus on
elimina�ng slum or blighted proper�es and
providing gap financing for developers. “I
wanted to expand available op�ons for the
residents of the NPF and the City,” explains
Brown, “to offer a great mix of resources
from the CRA and HCD, making things more
effec�ve and efficient for the community.
We are able to help neighbors who are
interested in buying homes and
rehabilita�ng homes, as well as fostering
economic development and business
growth and reten�on in the area.”
To ensure that the best op�ons were
available to the community, new incen�ve
programs, including a new infill housing
program in partnership with the City of Fort
Lauderdale, were revised and established.
The new economic development incen�ves
include a job crea�on requirement, where
par�cipa�ng companies must hire
residents. For example: Triangle Services, a
recent incen�ve recipient, brings a business
with 300 jobs that only require a high
school educa�on. Of those jobs, the
company has commi�ed that 55 of them
will be filled by residents of the NPF CRA,
with an average salary of approximately
$28,000.
The NPF CRA is crea�ng the future right
now and the plan is working, with
companies like Fairfield at Flagler, - building
a $65 million, 300-unit rental property and
Quantum at Flagler Village, building an $85
million combina�on hotel, retail and rental
property. The evidence shows that hotels
promote tourism for the City of
Ft. Lauderdale, which a�racts restaurants,
which in turn a�racts retail business. The
revised CRA incen�ves have renewed
interest in the area from individuals and
developers. Developers see value in the
redevelopment area, as several parcels
have been purchased and other parcels are
being assembled. “People who used to
live here are coming back,” beams Brown,
“We will build quality homes, the kind that
you or I would live in, because we will
accept nothing less.”
To maintain transparency, the NPF CRA
holds Open House mee�ngs monthly,
where residents can see plans for the next
eight years, meet the staff and explore
programs offered.
In May 2017, they will hold a Financial
Workshop for businesses, where they’ll
bring in the lending community to provide
detailed informa�on for businesses who
need loans to grow and advance their
business. Addi�onally, there will be a
Housing Workshop for prospec�ve and
exis�ng homeowners, who are looking to
realize the dream of homeownership or
those who own homes and need loans to
spruce things up. Both events will have a
panel of experts featuring tradi�onal and
non-tradi�onal lenders, loan officers and
experts for a Q & A session as well as
one-on-one talks.
“The goal of the NPF CRA is to enhance
distressed pockets of our redevelopment
areas through housing that will bring new
residents as well as businesses, which will
bring new job opportuni�es,” says Brown.
Dutch Pot Restaurant S�rs up People, Prayer, and Passion
Cherry Marshall and Melony Gregory, owners of Dutch Pot Restaurants
Step into one of the six South Florida
loca�ons of Dutch Pot restaurant and you
will enjoy a mul�-sensual experience. You
will smell the aroma of Caribbean jerks,
curries and spices. See workers diligently
serving clients. Hear a Jamaican accent or
two. Feel a touch of the Caribbean. And,
taste an authen�c Jamaican delight. These
elements are all in the mix at this
family-owned catering and dining
company.
“In Jamaica, the dutch pot cooks the
food excep�onally well giving it an
authen�c flavorful taste. It was used by our
mother and grandmother, who were and
remain our inspira�on,” Cherry Marshall
and Melony Gregory, the company’s sibling
proprietors. “Our goal is to maintain that
authen�c Jamaican flavor and atmosphere
and give customers excep�onal service and
a touch of the Caribbean.”
Since launching their first loca�on 17
years ago, the Jamaica-born tycoons
leveraged their maternal inspira�on and
family bond into a thriving enterprise that
employs approximately 200 workers.
“We are sisters and business partners.
We are only three years in apart in age.
From childhood, we have done everything
together. When we decided to venture into
a business partnership it was not difficult,”
they reveal “Our mother and grandmother
had already ins�lled in us during our
forma�ve years how to love, be kind, and
be respec�ul. These virtues have molded us
together un�l now.”
The sibling entr