Eatonville cuts deal with developer for workforce housing
McDowell Housing Partners, the affordable development arm of McDowell Properties, has reached an agreement with Eatonville that will allow it to build a new workforce housing multifamily development.
At a City Council meeting earlier this month, council members approved a draft Development Agreement between the town and MHP FL II LLC. The agreement states it will acquire 14.93 acres of vacant land near Keller Road and Kennedy Boulevard.
Christopher Shear, a project partner and the chief operating officer at MHP, told GrowthSpotter the company will build a 96-unit workforce housing development.
The community will consist of four, 3-story buildings with about 24 units each and a large clubhouse that will feature a pool, business center and a fitness center. Other amenities include a wide multi-purpose recreational trail with gathering areas, views of the lake and a community garden. Property management will also have an onsite location at the development.
MHP is securing final site plan approvals from the city and building permit approvals should follow shortly after, Shear said. “That puts us on a closing timeline of mid-April and a shovel will be in the ground first part of May.”
The company won the competitive 9% housing credits from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, which would help finance the construction of affordable housing development. Shear said Wells Fargo Bank is buying the tax credits and will be providing equity and originating a Freddie Mac loan for the construction of the community.
Orange County will also be providing about $75,000 to help finance the project. In total, the developer secured about $18 million in financing to build the project.
As part of the deal, the development must not be used for anything other than rent and income-restricted housing for a period no less than 50 years. All of the units will be reserved for households making at or below 70% of Orange County’s Area Median Income all the way down to 30% of the AMI.
Kissimmee to expand permit space
Kissimmee’s crowded permitting office will get some muchneeded space thanks to a 12,000-square-foot addition to City Hall.
Development Services Director Craig Holland told GrowthSpotter the city is preparing to go out to bid for a general contractor to build the two-story wing that will extend into the courtyard, parallel to the Commission Chambers.
“We’re going to try to get it out as quick as possible, just because we feel like with the way everything is going with the cost of everything, we need to get it out as quick as possible,” Holland said.
Holland said the city must seek competitive bids for the construction because the estimated cost of over $5 million exceeds the amount permitted through continuing services contracts.
Holland said the addition will nearly double the space for the building department and allow it room to grow in the future.
“It’s not something that we’re going to get it done and then turn around then go, OK, we need more room,” he said. “It’s going to be many years before we completely fill it out.”
The new addition also frees up space in the main building for other departments. The planning staff has been scattered across three floors and now will be able to consolidate its office. “Long Range Planning is all upstairs with me on the second floor, so they’ll move back down to the first floor,” Holland said.
The project is entirely funded through fees collected by the Building Department. Holland said the self-funded department collects an average of $1.2 million in excess fees, which go into a reserve fund. The state legislature regulates how much the department can keep in reserves and what type of expenditures are allowed.
Kissimmee has tapped its reserve fund for employee pay raises based on a salary study of the department. The building department also absorbed the fire inspectors to cover those salaries with fees, and it helped finance the city’s new Energov software program that expands and simplifies the online permitting process.
This is a sampling of stories from GrowthSpotter, a premium subscription service from the Orlando Sentinel that focuses on the early stages of real estate development. To subscribe, go to GrowthSpotter.com