The Father Marquess-Barry Apartments brings 60 new affordable homes to the heart of Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, helping its senior residents remain in their community at a time of rapidly rising rents.
Six units are reserved for residents earning at or below 28% of the area median income (AMI), 48 units are for those earning no more than 60% of the AMI, and six units serve residents between 60% and 120% of the AMI.
“The project is a model public-private partnership that came together to build needed housing,” says developer Matthew Rieger, president and CEO of the Housing Trust Group (HTG), noting the pride that residents have taken in their new homes.
The development is named after The Rev. Canon Richard Marquess-Barry, the longtime leader of Saint Agnes Episcopal Church, the largest and oldest Episcopal congregation for people of color in Miami. Born to Bahamian immigrants in 1940, he was raised in public housing in Miami and became a champion for housing and other opportunities for Miami’s African-American community.
Rieger worked closely with Father Barry, whose nonprofit Rainbow Housing Corp. helped secure the county-owned land for the project. Father Barry died in 2020 before the homes were completed, but his memory lives on at the site.
The new $18.3 million development sits next to his church and is about a mile from Miami’s central business district and close to mass transit.
Notable features of this urban community include its Bahamian-style architecture, a nod to Father Barry’s roots, and its oversized 5,500-square-foot community room. It was built to National Green Building Standards.Through an agreement with Sunshine Health, residents have access to free on-site programs in addition to daily structured activities.
