New Collier County Workforce Housing Available For Florida Mortgage Applicants
Townhomes priced at less than $200,000 are now for sale in the new town of Ave Maria in east Collier County, the News-Press reports.
However, the 326 affordable housing units at Pulte Homes’ Middlebrooke at Ave Maria are only being offered to buyers who meet income requirements.
Kelly Lauman, general sales manager for Pulte Homes at Ave Maria, said adjustments can and will be made depending on family size.
For example, the maximum income for a one-person household is $39,100. For a family of four, it bumps up to $55,800.
The offerings are needed because many potential homebuyers were priced out of the Southwest Florida housing market after the boom of 2004 and 2005.
That has created a ripple effect, causing middle-class workers to be forced out of areas of Southwest Florida as they cannot afford Florida mortgages.
Lauman said the term workforce housing is more applicable than low-income housing or affordable housing for this project.
“It goes along with the vision of Ave Maria,” she said, referring to the 5,000-acre project that includes the town and Ave Maria University.
“There’s the saying, ‘Every lifestyle. Every Family.’ (Middlebrooke) is for buyers who, in other cases, would be unable to enter the Collier County housing market.”
Middlebrooke will have 42 two-story buildings, 37 with eight units each and five with six units each. The community will have a private recreation pavilion with a pool, sun deck and cabana.
Many of the townhomes — all starting in the high $100,000s, a reasonable Florida mortgage sum — will have water or preserve views.
The 1,395-square-foot Barkley has three bedrooms and 21/2 baths. The 1,163-square-foot Arden has two bedrooms and 21/2 baths.
Both two-story floor plans provide a private entry with foyer, first-floor powder room, combined great room/dining room and covered lanai.
Amenities include cultured marble bathroom vanity tops, a breakfast area, General Electric appliances, raised-panel doors, marble window sills, 8-foot sliding glass doors, decorative baseboard trim, air conditioning and more..
Every home will be pre-wired for ceiling fans, cable TV and phone outlets and have steel-reinforced concrete block, hurricane straps, upgraded insulation, exterior lighting, a 10-year structural warranty and more.
For the working-class Florida mortgage seeker, it doesn’t get much better.
SOURCE: News-Press
