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Housing for lesser-paid goes up a notch

The first of perhaps many city-backed affordable housing complexes is under way on a key corridor.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published January 21, 2005

LARGO - It may not be hard to find a place to live in Largo - but glitzy townhomes in the city are commanding upward of $200,000 each.

That's why the city has thrown its support behind an affordable housing project being constructed on the site of an old shopping center at Clearwater-Largo Road and Ponce De Leon Boulevard.

Although construction has been in full swing for two months, city officials and developers met under a tent Thursday morning to break ground on a 180-unit apartment complex for low- to moderate-income residents.

The Richman Group of Florida in West Palm Beach is building the Belleair Place Apartments at the site of a vacant Winn-Dixie at Clearwater-Largo Road and Ponce De Leon Boulevard. The homes are for people who have an annual income of between $10,000 and $40,000.

Of the 180 garden-style units, 126 will rent for about $700 to $800 a month. The rest will be offered at a market rate.

The company bought the 11-acre property from EVK Enterprises for $2.3-million.

When it constructs an affordable housing residential building, it receives credits through the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which is why it can rent the units at a low price.

The new complex will boast a 4,200-square-foot clubhouse, a library with computers, a fitness center and a large, custom pool. The color scheme has not been decided, but the facility will have a Key West-style look. Units come in two sizes: the two-bedroom, two bath apartments are roughly 1,000-square feet; the three-bedroom, two-bath units are a little more than 1,200-square-feet. Each will have a front porch.

"I think this is a great project for Largo and the Clearwater-Largo redevelopment district," said Michael Staffopoulos, director of the city's Community Development department. "With a spike in residential property housing costs, we wanted to provide affordable housing."

The city waived about $550,000 in impact fees for the project.

With townhomes sprouting on nearly every empty piece of property in Pinellas County, plenty of available housing exists in Largo.

But prices start at around $126,000, which is out of reach for some would-be buyers.

"The people who are making $30,000 to $40,000 a year find it difficult to live and work in the same city," Staffopoulos said.

This project is the first of many public/private partnerships the city is planning for the Clearwater-Largo corridor, said City Manager Steven Stanton.

He said affordable housing complexes soon will replace up to a dozen aging mobile home parks on Clearwater-Largo Road that are now home to about 3,000 residents.

"Within two to 10 years, none of those mobile home parks will exist in the corridor," Stanton said.

The Richman Group of Florida built two similar properties, Royal Palm Key and Morgan Creek, in Hillsborough County.

"They do a beautiful job," said Mayor Bob Jackson. "People need to understand affordable housing is not cheap housing."

The first tenants are expected to be able to move in within about nine or 10 months.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 21, 2005, 00:30:24]