Affordable Housing Comes to Punta Gorda

The City Council scheduled two public hearings Wednesday that could help more affordable housing become a reality.
As more residents struggle to find Florida mortgages they can afford, the council has been looking for ways to ensure housing for the area workforce.

As a result, the town will hold a second public hearing that calls for the transferring of residential density to allow developer Gabe Bove to build a 176-unit workforce-affordable condo complex.

Council members will also be asked to approve a preliminary plat for the Punta Gorda Housing Authority’s plans to redevelop public and affordable housing on Myrtle and Cooper streets.

Bove intends to build a condominium complex with 22 buildings of two- and three-bedroom units. Out of the project, 130 units will be kept within the price range of police officers, firefighters, nurses and other employees who earn between 80-120 percent of the area’s average income.

The remaining 46 units will be sold at fair market value.

To fend off speculators vying for the designated workforce units, Bove promises a five-year deed restriction limiting who can purchase those homes and the profit an owner can draw from the sale.

That way, a rich investor can’t come in, buy a unit with a low-interest Florida home loan, then sell it off immediately for big profits.

The city’s advisory Planning Commission gave its recommendation for the project; however, commission members also recommended the council consider requiring the deed restriction be extended to 10 years.

Bove’s property was originally zoned for low-density residential units. The city wants to transfer existing and unusable units to the property.

However, even if approved by the council, the city will still need approvals from the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

The Punta Gorda Housing Authority will build a new complex of public and affordable housing that will be better integrated into the community than what was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004.

The new “Gulf Breeze” housing project calls for 46 buildings with 170 public and affordable housing units. Housing authority officials hope to complete construction in 18 months.

Eighty-five of the one- to four-bedroom apartments will be reserved for public housing. The remaining 85 units will be available to the “working poor.” The residents will also have a community center available for their use.

The original Myrtle Street housing project was a “campus” development that limited access with the surrounding neighborhood. The Gulf Breeze project will include architectural design and roadway access that better blends the housing project into the surrounding community.

Sounds like a great opportunity for the hard-working Florida mortgage loan seeker who might not otherwise have a chance to own a home.

SOURCE: Charlotte Sun-Herald