Case Study Site Visit: The Allapattah Collaborative CDC

Miami is experiencing some of the most accelerated gentrification in the country, influenced heavily by foreign investors and a small tech boom. Real estate speculation and soaring rents are quickly displacing historic neighborhoods and legacy businesses, and climate change is impacting urban development patterns. 

The Allapattah Collaborative CDC (TAC) works to prevent displacement in the historically Dominican Allapattah neighborhood, or Little Santo Domingo. TAC’s signature program, the Small Business Resiliency Cohort (SBRC), is designed to ensure that businesses are able to thrive, survive a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, and purchase their own storefronts. The organization’s case study examines the effectiveness of the SBRC program’s work with more than 100 businesses to keep them open, increase their profits, and prepare them for real estate ownership. These strategies include business training and technical assistance, implementing financial controls, and helping businesses develop a digital presence.

The SBAN site visit will feature a walking tour of the neighborhood’s 17th Avenue commercial corridor, a designated Main Street™ where TAP is using a place-based, preservation-focused revitalization strategy. Attendees will talk with local residents and owners of the more than 300 micro-businesses in Allapattah, including during a panel discussion with small business owners who have participated in TAP’s SBRC program. TAP will detail its business ownership strategy, which includes a plan to purchase property and build a mixed-use development with affordable housing and commercial space. The project will provide opportunities for small business owners to have an ownership stake in the community.