Orlando Mortgage Seekers: Affordable Towers Planned

Developer GDC Properties plans to launch a long-planned apartment project in the downtown Orlando housing market with 60 percent of the 484 units targeting low-income and certain essential service workers.

No date has been set for the twin-tower project known as Verde, but the company indicated it could be under way by late summer or early fall. Preliminary site work, such as soil testing, has begun.

The company has owned the Florida real estate since early 2004 and has considered several development plans, including a condo tower.

GDC, based in Hawthorne, N.Y., said it has been awarded a $5 million grant from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. to target a percentage of the units for affordable Florida mortgage seekers: the city’s essential service workers, like police officers, nurses, teachers and firefighters.

The company also said $115 million will be generated by tax-exempt bonds issued by the Orange County Housing Finance Authority.

Additionally, the city of Orlando is expected to provide a tax-increment rebate - where property taxes are rebated to the company over a set time period - for the project.

In return for the incentives, GDC would reserve 20 percent of the one- and two-bedroom apartments for renters earning less than 50 percent of the area’s median household income.

The Orange County Workforce Housing Task Force recently said the area’s median household income is about $52,000.

Another 40 percent of the apartments would be set aside for those earning no more than 150 percent of the area’s median household income.

The balance of the apartments would be rented at market rates.

The subsidized apartments for the affordable Florida home loan applicants would be located on the first 29 floors of each of the 36-story towers.

“The city is working hard to provide housing solutions and grow the area, and Verde supports these goals while bringing diverse living to downtown,” said Thomas Chatmon, executive director of the Downtown Development Board.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called the project “a big step forward as we address the needs of our growing community and create a variety of affordable housing options in our city’s urban core.”

The city has been involved in previous programs to promote affordable downtown housing, such as the CityView at Hughes Square project.

In that development, 49 percent of the 266 rental units are reserved for middle- and lower-income tenants.

Verde will feature two towers with 13,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. An attached garage will provide parking.

SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel