After years of renting, a South Florida worker finally owns a home. The project that helped her get there

For years, Donna Miller wanted something she could call her own. The 53-year-old has worked at a Coconut Grove hotel for about 20 years, earning roughly $45,000 a year. For much of that time, she rented a home across the street from where she worked. Her rent, she said, started at $690 a month before eventually increasing to around $1,400. But Miller had a bigger goal. “I always wanted my own home,” she said. After years of trying to buy a house without success, Miller said her real estate agent introduced her to a home built by BlueNest, a developer that says it is working to create a path to homeownership for South Florida s workforce. Miller eventually purchased a home in Homestead. She now pays about $2,200 a month and has a longer commute to work, but said the tradeoff is worth it. “Now it’s mine,” Miller said. Building homes for South Florida s workforce BlueNest CEO Salim Chraibi said he began developing the concept in 2018 after noticing a gap in Miami s ho