Alliance partnership seeks solutions to attainable housing in Collier County
Collier County affordable-housing advocates have created a Housing Alliance partnership that will work with everyone, from developers to homeowners and renters, and offer a one-stop shop for information on affordable, attainable housing.
Collier County affordable-housing advocates have created a Housing Alliance partnership that will work with everyone, from developers to homeowners and renters, and offer a one-stop shop for information on affordable, attainable housing.
The announcement came at the Collier County Community Land Trust’s annual Housing Forum on Nov. 16, where past and future affordable developments were detailed, as well as how the Housing Alliance plans to move forward by becoming a nonprofit entity and setting up a website hub to bring together information for developers, landowners, homeowners, renters, government, funders and donors.
The alliance is a collaboration between the Community Land Trust and HELP (Housing, Education and Land Programs) and will work with the Community Foundation of Collier County, developers and other non-profit partners, including the county Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and Habitat for Humanity, to bring more affordable- housing projects to the county. The official launch will be announced at a press conference in mid-January.
“Obviously, Collier is not the only community dealing with this,” said Eileen Connolly-Keesler, the Community Foundation’s president and CEO.
“And it kept coming back to this concept— a hub, an organization that knows everything that’s going on in this community.”
She said they’re also creating a Housing Impact Fund, for which the Community Foundation already raised $1.3 million with a goal of $3 million.
Michael Puchalla, director of the Housing Development Corporation of Southwest Florida, described Allegro and Cadenza at Hacienda Lakes, two affordable developments under construction by McDowell Housing Partners, in partnership with the Community Land Trust.
“This is the type of development that we think is impactful in our community, and it’s a part of what we need,” Puchalla told about 75 gathered at the meeting.
“It’s not everything, but it is a piece—because there is definitely a segment of the population, both senior and those in the workforce, who are not able or don’t earn enough to be able to qualify at the higher rent rates that are currently going on the market, even at some of those 80% and 100% (area median income) rates,” he added. “These types of developments have a definite need in the community.”
Ekos Allegro is expected to open to residents in February, and Cadenza will welcome residents late next summer. A one-bedroom unit at 30% of AMI will rent for $561 and a two-bedroom, two-bathroom rental will lease for $674, while one-bedroom at 60% of AMI will rent for $1,123 and a two-bedroom will be leased at $1,348.
The developments will offer 160 units in each phase—320 total units—and are located near medical facilities, grocery stores, pharmacies, parks and open space. Rent and income levels will be capped, with affordable units renting for 60% AMI with 10% of units reserved for individuals earning 30% or less of AMI. There will be a 50-year land-use restriction agreement, resulting in long-term affordability, and community programs will include a county feeding program and onsite health services.
The next affordable-housing project for 2024 will be in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Puchalla noted that the greatest benefit to workforce and attainable housing for seniors and veterans is the Live Local Act, which went into effect in July. That statewide workforce housing strategy is designed to increase the availability of affordable housing opportunities for Florida’s workforce, who want to live in the communities where they work.
Steve Hruby, chairman of the county’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, said it doesn’t like to use the term “affordable housing,” which has a negative connotation, and prefers “housing that is affordable.” He noted that the need was once relegated to the lower end of the economic spectrum, but with rising housing costs, it now includes middle-income residents.
“The numbers have grown and the demand and the need has sprawled, particularly here in Collier County,” Hruby said, calling it critical housing that’s attainable.
The Housing Alliance will be an alliance between the Community Land Trust and HELP, which deals with foreclosures, mortgage assistance and everything someone needs to get an apartment or purchase a home. “When we started to form the Housing Alliance, what we were missing was an educational and advocacy group to reach out to the community and the government,” Hruby said, adding that the philanthropic community also is participating.
“Major problems in this area have been solved by the highwealth community and what we’re seeing is that wealthy individuals are looking to try to help us solve that problem,” Hruby said, adding that the alliance’s partnership with the Community Foundation of Collier County facilitates that.
Over the past few months, stakeholders and others interested in solving the housing problem met during three meetings over nine months to try to get input and get people more engaged. “It was a dialogue, a community, a conversation about solving the problem, not just complaining about the problem,” Hruby said. “We know what the problem is. It’s a matter of solving the problem.
“There’s a lot of NIMBYism in the community,” he added of residents who support attainable housing, but “Not In My Backyard.”
In February, he said, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Housing Alliance and the Urban Land Institute will meet with developers at a public forum to discuss their challenges with building housing under the Live Local Act.
Florida Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, who sponsored the Live Local Act, was awarded the Housing Champion Award at the event. She couldn’t attend and sent her remarks through a video.
“As our state continues to grow, our Live Local Act will make sure Floridians can live close to the good jobs, schools, hospitals and other critical centers of our communities that fit comfortably in their household budgets, no matter the stage of life or income,” Passidomo said. “With your continued help, the Live Local approach to workforce housing will shut down affordable housing stereotypes and create attainable housing options needed by the majority of our workforce, the backbone of Florida’s economy.”
After the presentation, Naples City Councilman Ray Christman, who has been working with Puchalla, Hruby, Connolly-Keesler and others on attainable housing, said the money needs to come from both the private and public sides. With the Community Foundation starting the Impact Fund, the private funding is now available, while on the public side, there’s still $20 million in the Infrastructure Surtax Fund.
“We have to find a way for the public money to continue to be provided year in and year out at ever greater levels, whether it’s through an extension of the sales tax or something else,” Christman said, noting the City Council’s 2024-25 budget includes $3 million for housing that’s affordable. “We’re really at a great moment for change and I think the Housing Alliance could be the organizational glue to bring a lot of these things together.”
Puchalla said there was great energy and conversations after the meeting and added, “I have had a few people reaching out already to find out how to get engaged.”
For more information or to help, contact Puchalla at michael@collierhousing. com.