Affordable housing projects hopeful for Hurricane Ian relief received less than what was originally on the table following a Sarasota County Commission decision to reserve some of the funds for other non-housing proposals.
Though $40 million was initially set for distribution, the County Commission allocated about $28 million to five out of 19 applicants for the Resilient SRQ Affordable Housing Program at a July 10 meeting. The commission will decide whether to redistribute the remaining almost $12 million to county infrastructure projects, as proposed by Commissioner Neil Rainford, at a Sept. 10 meeting.
The funds are part of a $201.5 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant allocated toward Sarasota County after Hurricane Ian. The Resilient SRQ program divided the grant into infrastructure, housing and economic development categories and has been screening applications for the commission.
Much of the damage occurred farther south in Sarasota County, including severe flooding in North Port and in the Englewood area.
Rainford cited lingering infrastructure gaps — such as the proposed fire station to service 3H Ranch south of Clark Road and other pending developments east of Interstate 75 — as more pertinent to Hurricane Ian recovery efforts than the proposed affordable housing projects.
Though he applauded the efforts to bolster housing, Rainford said Resilient SRQ funds should more closely correspond to tangible Ian impacts.
“I believe this is Hurricane Ian money,” Rainford said. “As close as we can get that money to people affected by the storm, that’s more important to me.”
Hurricane Ian created almost $800 million in unmet needs for Sarasota County, per a Resilient SRQ presentation. An estimated 66% of that need — around $524 million — is for housing, while infrastructure needs total 27% of the total need at almost $220 million.
Applicant requests for the Affordable Housing Program totaled more than $148 million out of the $40 million reserved for the program.
The Affordable Housing Program selection was the second round of Resilient SRQ distribution, following a May 22 selection that saw 12 applicants for the infrastructure program receive a collective of almost $45 million. Three affordable housing projects from the Sarasota Housing Authority — the second phase of the Cypress Square and Lofts on Lemon complexes and a planned Central Gardens project in Newtown — were passed over for funding in this round.
The commission unanimously approved funding for the following affordable housing projects, totaling $28.2 million. The five projects total 256 affordable units, which are priced at or below 80% of the area median income of $64,000 annually.
- Nancy’s Village ($4.035 million)
- Cortina Oaks of Venice ($4.01 million)
- Ekos at Arbor Park Phase 2 ($1 million)
- Sarasota Station ($15 million)
- On The Park Apartments ($4.226 million)
Directives from HUD require 70% of Resilient SRQ projects to serve those in this low to moderate-income bracket. Leaders of the Resilient SRQ program said the proposed reallocation wouldn’t derail this mandate.
A subsequent motion to decide where the remaining $11.7 million would land in September passed 4-1, with Commissioner Mark Smith in dissent. Smith argued that the commission should uphold its original intention to distribute $40 million to affordable housing projects, proposing that the commission curb the requested funding from favorable applicants to spread the funds among more projects.
“We said we’re going to set $40 million aside for affordable housing, and we should stick to that,” Smith said. “We’ll find funding somewhere else for the fire station.”
The meeting saw members of the Sarasota City Commission, the Sarasota Housing Authority and housing projects eligible for funding lobby for a slice of the Resilient SRQ payout. The remainder of the grant will be distributed at future meetings.
Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.
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