Magic Johnson Works Magic in the Housing Market

By Mary Damiano

Former NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson plans to work a little magic in the Magic City.

Johnson is head of an investment fund with a majority stake in a major condo project in Little Havana, aimed at making housing affordable again near downtown Miami.

The complex will be called Morrison, and will include 395 units in two 19-story towers. The project will include ground floor retail space as well as office condo space. The Morrison project will break ground next year and is set for completion in 2009. Units will cost between $250,000 and $350,000, with a 5 percent down payment instead of the usual 20 percent.

A project like this could help solve a problem that’s been brewing for years in the wake of skyrocketing housing costs: What happens to workers who have been priced out of South Florida’s housing market?

That has been a concern of Johnson’s, who formed Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds in 1999 with business partner Bobby Turner, with an eye toward investing in urban areas. Johnson has said that he believes developers and local governments have ignored urban revitalization, opting instead for regentrification, which draws well-heeled homeowners to once blighted areas, forcing out residents who already call the place home.

Johnson’s philosophy is simple: make neighborhoods nice for people who live there, keep it affordable and don’t displace residents in favor of wealthy buyers.

The Morrison will be built at Flagler Street and Southwest Avenue in Little Havana. Canyon-Jones has already invested in other parts of Miami, including Downtown Dadeland, a condo and retail project being built in the burgeoning downtown Kendall area.