Dear Ms.

Korst,

Attached is our response to RFI No. 5 for the 18.75 acres in Allapattah,
Miami. We have answered the ten questions and have included
appropriate exhibits. Prior to providing this response, we spoke with
veteran’s organizations, the South Florida HUD Field Office, the City of
Miami’s director of real estate, the Miami Parking Authority, the
Homeless Trust, and others who were all highly encouraging and
impressed with our vision for the site. We hope that you feel the same.

Very Truly Yours,

Swerdlow Garchik Veterans Housing Initiative

 RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR THE 18.57 ACRE CITY OF MIAMI SITE
BY THE SWERDLOW/GARCHIK VETERANS HOUSING INITIATIVE

1. Our vision for the land is to develop a 1000 unit or more community of Veterans. The
project’s proximity to the Veterans Hospital has provided an unprecedented
opportunity to develop a community for Veterans that provides both amenities and
services for our service men and women. We believe that every Veteran in the complex
will visit the Hospital at least once a month based on current statistics. Hence, we
believe if we don’t promote housing for our Veterans and many of them are currently
homeless here, we will be doing a huge disservice to them and will have failed to honor
their service to our Country. These individuals do not need another office building or
shopping center on this land. They need quality housing and services that dignifies their
sacrifices for our Country. We believe all the land should be used for their needs less the
portion of the site that can house the existing uses. We would consolidate the existing
uses on the site so as to maximize the land remaining for the Veterans. We absolutely
believe the whole site is needed again, because there is no better piece of property to
locate these Veterans than adjacent to the VA Hospital. Further, we believe we can aid
the Hospital by aggregating our parking spaces in a facility that can provide the Hospital
with spillover parking on a daily basis and ease the significant congestion that occurs
there every week day.

2. Yes, we would absolutely be willing to put a detailed proposal together to share with the
City of Miami demonstrating how we intend to honor the service of our military with
new quality housing so proximate to the Hospital and other needed services. We have
attached a preliminary sketch prepared by Arquitectonica (exhibit 1) that shows how we
would use the site to create at least 1,000 units for veterans and their family members.

3. We do not need any help to accomplish this community development. We are

experienced in remediation of hazardous materials which we understand exists on the
site and we are also capable of handling the relocation on site or off site required to
provide the maximum area for the Veterans housing. Therefore, we are not aware of
any conditions that would discourage our participation in this proposed opportunity.

4. We are able to provide all of the above. We will bring an integrated team of
professionals, all experienced in developing projects of this scale in South Florida. Our
most recent development on block 55 in Overtown is just one example of the skills our
team possesses. This 1.5 million square foot development on over 3 acres will be proof
of our combined talents. We have assembled a first-class team in finance, design and
construction there and will do the same here.

5. Our development members have built or renovated over 6000 apartments and 10,000
single family homes on the residential side. And then on the commercial side we have
collectively developed over 30,000,000 sq. ft of improvements. Right now, we have
over 2 million square feet of development projects underway with most of them in
 South Florida. Attached to this letter are our team’s experience in developing projects
of this scale and size. See exhibit 2.

6. We believe that significant development experience is required. The City should, at a

minimum, require that the proposer have extensive experience locally, with a deep
understanding of our market and specifically Allapattah and the Hospital District. They
need to have a detailed proposal that includes a real public purpose. Our proposal for
Veteran Housing is as significant a public purpose as can be conceived. Our servicemen
and women deserve access to healthcare and quality housing, and this will service both
of those critical needs.

7. As stated earlier, our vision for this property is a permanent home for retired military
servicemembers. As such the longer the term we can provide these veterans the better.
If fee simple ownership of the land is not possible, then we would recommend a 99 year
ground lease with extensions. This will enable us to develop the project with a long
term view and take advantage of the best financing options in the marketplace.

8. We will either self-finance or solicit funding from financial institutions and public
agencies who support this type of critical needs housing in our community. We have
already discussed this vision with veteran’s organizations and homeless groups for
veterans and their support for this project has been overwhelming.

9. If the city of Miami does not have a more suitable location for the existing uses on the
site, then we are comfortable providing an onsite consolidation of these uses so as to
maximize the remaining ground for the veterans housing. Once the City of Miami has
reviewed our plan, we would expect they would work with us to relocate the existing
uses to other City owned land so our vision of a true Veterans community can be
optimized on the site. However, if the City cannot dedicate other land to the existing
uses, then we will incorporate the existing uses within our plan with minimal disruption
to their current operations. Therefore, whether the existing uses remain on this
property in a new location or they can be relocated elsewhere, they are not an
impediment to proceeding with the ground lease and future Veterans housing
development.

10. We believe that the GSA fueling pump, fleet maintenance, car wash and truck washing
facilities, and the Solid Waste Department’s mini dump should be relocated to any
appropriate city property. However, the administrative buildings and the fire station can
remain on the site.
 Exhibit #1

Preliminary Layout