Miami-Dade’s housing czar Alex Ballina is leaving his government post to cash in on demand for affordable and workforce developments across the Sunshine State, The Real Deal has learned.
He recently formed Florida Development Building Group, or FDBG, a firm that will use “data driven insights and data-backed strategies to focus on projects for essential workers in underserved markets throughout Florida,” Ballina told TRD. He will step down as director of Miami-Dade Housing and Community Development next month.
“I did a great job at the county, but the timing is right to go do my own thing,” Ballina said. “I know the blueprint for doing these types of projects.”
FDBG will focus primarily on workforce housing projects that take advantage of Florida’s Live Local Act, Ballina said. The state law incentivizes developers with density and height increases, tax breaks and other sweeteners if they designate a portion or all of their residential units in a project for affordable and workforce housing. Local governments are required to administratively approve Live Local projects.
In a memo on Monday to the county commission, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the departure of Ballina and Miami-Dade Innovation and Economic Development Chief Francesca de Quesada. Levine Cava did not provide any further explanation about their reasons for leaving.
Nathan Kogon, the housing department’s assistant director, will lead the county agency on an interim basis while Levine Cava’s administration conducts a search for a new permanent chief, the mayor’s memo states. Her spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
“We are going to miss Alex,” said county commissioner Elieen Higgins, whose district includes downtown Miami and Brickell. “But I think we are in good hands with Nathan.”
Ballina accepted the county housing director job in 2023 after working 11 years as an executive for Resia, a Miami-based multifamily development firm. Prior to Resia, Ballina was an assistant director for the Miami-Dade housing department, overseeing maintenance and upkeep for housing complexes.
When he took on the top job, Ballina replaced Michael Liu, a former federal housing official who was hired in 2014 to run Miami-Dade Housing and Community Development. Liu resigned eight years later after clashing with Levine Cava, and he now works as a strategic adviser for Coconut Grove-based developer Michael Swerdlow.
Under Ballina’s watch, the county housing department — in partnership with developers — completed more than 25 affordable and workforce housing projects with over 6,000 units, Ballina said. “We reorganized and streamlined a lot of our processes,” he said. “We catapulted development of affordable housing and unlocked a lot of stuck deals.”