Shaquille O’Neal: Florida Affordable Housing is a Slam Dunk

What do you do when Florida affordable housing concerns continue to mount up?

Call in Miami Heat center, Shaquille O’Neal, of course.

The four-time NBA champion announced Tuesday the formation of The O’Neal Group, a real estate firm that’s aligning with MDM Development in a $1 billion project to build 1,100 residential units in a sprawling downtown Miami complex. Most of them will be geared to lower-income families seeking a Florida mortgage loan for the first time.

The timing is perfect. While Florida home mortgage applications have been on the rise, many individuals and families are still priced out of many areas. Hopefully, sellers will come down on their values, but projects such as these can only speed up the improvement.

The project - Met Miami - will include an 866-foot building, touted as the tallest residential tower south of New York City. Plans also call for office buildings, a five-star Marriott hotel and a 24-Hour Fitness, which O’Neal is also partnered with.

“I’m trying to give people a better way of living,” O’Neal said.

Neither the development group nor O’Neal would divulge if the All-Star is an actual investor in the Met Miami project, which is being developed only a few blocks south of the Heat’s waterfront arena. Both sides, though, said that O’Neal has “significant” financial interest in the project’s success.

Housing prices in Miami have been falling. The hope is that the combination of these events and factors will open up the market even more.

“Our primary focus is on landmark locations and real estate offerings that positively impact the way people live,” said Christopher Handy, the executive vice president of The O’Neal Group. “Mixed-use developments with integrated living and intelligent designs … are the prototypical examples of what we hope to accomplish.”