Affordable housing proposals advanced for north Sarasota County site

Housing options in North Sarasota County could soon be more varied after one company takes a swing at developing a 620-unit complex near Emma E. Booker Elementary School.

The county is poised to move forward with an affordable housing development on 114 acres located at 2501 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way after receiving six bids for the parcel, bounded by North Tuttle Avenue on the east and Myrtle Street to the north.

The county-owned land was slated to become a mixed-use community after a Miami-based company submitted an unsolicited proposal to the county. However, commissioners balked at the purchase offer of $2.5 million from the out-of-town company.

Instead, a competitive public process was started to open negotiations with other proposals for the site. The county in April received six and has now selected two as potential options for the site.

After each highlighted their top two choices, commissioners selected a proposal from Gracewater Community Development as the No. 1 choice and a proposal from Habitat for Humanity and Benderson Development Co. as the No. 2 choice for the land.

Gracewater, which is now redeveloping 139 acres at the nearby site of the former Rolling Green Golf Course, offered the county $4.4 million for the site — the highest purchase point of the six proposals.

Minimum guidelines laid out by the county included a requirement that no fewer than 150 units, or 25% of the total dwelling units — whichever is greater — be set aside for affordable housing for a minimum of 10 years.

All affordable housing units shall be sold or rented to households making at or below 80% of the area median income. The county’s 2021 AMI is $77,200, so 80% would be $61,750 for a family of four or $43,250 for a single person.

No less than half the affordable units shall be sold or rented for households at or below 60% AMI, or $46,320 for a family of four, or $32,460 for a single person.

The guidelines also set a minimum bid for the land at $2.5 million. The county paid $2.2 million   in 2013.

Gracewater’s original proposal includes a total of 620 dwelling units. That number would include 176 single-family homes, 134 town homes, 54 paired villas and 256 coach homes.

To meet the affordable housing requirement, 156 coach homes will be set aside. Half will be offered at 60% AMI, and another half offered at 80% AMI. The remaining coach homes will be offered at market value.

According to Gracewater’s proposal, the project seeks to create income diversity in the area, rather than serve solely an affordable housing development.

“It is our belief and experience that without income diversity, the residents of this neighborhood will continue to experience lower quality public schools, lack of essential businesses and the systemic poverty that comes from flat or decreasing property values,” the document notes.

Other proposals included such items as grocery stores, schools, boutiques, banks, medical services, an employment center and a minor league soccer stadium.

However, Gracewater’s proposal did not include any features aside from housing. Its proposal stated that although the county can zone for it, it doesn’t mean a grocery store or similar developments could be attracted to or sustained in the area.

Although she said additional features are nice, Commissioner Nancy Detert said the board’s main priority has to be affordable housing.

“We have 114 acres. We have a housing problem in Sarasota County,” Detert said. “I’m not looking for a soccer stadium. I’m not looking for a warehouse. I’m not looking for a school. I’m looking for housing for people.”

Still, commissioners did have some nonnegotiable items they would like to see added to Gracewater’s proposal before moving forward with the project.

Commissioners with a unanimous vote directed staff to move forward with negotiations with Gracewater provided they could include in their proposal a grocery store, pharmacy and a stipulation that at least 50% of its overall units be offered to residents who earn at or below 60% AMI.

The stipulations mean that the number and type of units in Gracewater’s original proposal likely will change. If negotiations with Gracewater deteriorate, staff will then move forward with negotiations with Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat offered the county $3.5 million in a proposal that included 350 affordable homes — 175 at 80% AMI or below and another 175 at 60% AMI or below. It also would partner with Benderson Development to create a 30-acre employment center on a portion of the site.