Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is kicking in $3 million to a new fund that will grant money to companies that can solve issues in housing and other sectors.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the commitment at her State of the County address on Wednesday evening. Griffin, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, has become increasingly philanthropic locally as he prepares to move the company and its sister firm, Citadel Securities, to South Florida.
The Miami-Dade Innovation Authority would also receive $3 million from Miami-Dade County, pending approval from the board of county commissioners; and $3 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The nonprofit will provide grants to companies working to solve challenges related to climate change, housing, health, transit and more, Levine Cava said.
Griffin and his companies have spent more than $1 billion acquiring residential and commercial real estate in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, and Citadel is working with Chicago developer Sterling Bay to build a bayfront office tower in Miami’s Brickell, where the company will house its permanent headquarters.
Levine Cava recapped her administration’s successes during her speech, held at Tropical Park, spending time addressing the housing crisis. She cited the county commission’s approval of her countywide reduction of the millage rate that cut $25 million in property taxes.
She referred to her plan to work with private builders to accelerate new construction over the next three years, building “climate ready infrastructure,” and incorporating half a billion dollars into the county’s budget for nearly 32,000 housing units. The county also adopted a tenants’ bill of rights and expanded the federal emergency rental assistance program (ERAP), which provided housing assistance to 22,000 families in Miami-Dade County.
Levine Cava said the county will be launching its online condo and homeowners’ association dashboard to increase financial transparency for condo and homeowners living in communities. Such associations will be required to file structural reports, financial statements, insurance policies, budgets, and major planned projects to the county by Feb. 1 of this year, and continue to do so on an annual basis.
The county also continues to crack down on association fraud, Levine Cava said, likely referring to the massive fraud that has rocked the Hammocks, a 3,800-acre community in Miami-Dade County that’s home to more than 18,000 residents.