Ward Towers, a $17.3 million development, is a response to the city's affordable housing crunch. The project will consist of 100 studio apartments in a five-story building and target very low-income tenants in an area where there has been little multifamily development in the last 20 years. Also included will be a 24,000-sf community center catering to the needs of the elderly.

The public housing units will be limited to people who earn no more than 20% of the area median income. The units will have significantly lower rents than the $518 average rent for at-market studios in the city. The fair market monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Miami-Dade County should average $842 next year. But a report this year by the National Low Income Housing Coalition states that 64% of renters won't be able to afford it.

The development will be located about three miles from Downtown in the north central neighborhood of Brownsville. It is scheduled to be finished next spring.