Sarasota commissioners approve downtown land purchase for city-owned workforce housing
SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — City commissioners voted unanimously Monday to move forward with the more than $7 million purchase of two pieces of prime real estate in the center of the downtown core. The plan is to transform the two properties along First Street into affordable workforce housing.
The property directly across the street from City Hall has the potential to one day house hundreds of members of the city’s working class from first responders and government workers to nurses and teachers.
The project proposal includes two 12-story towers, making up 192 workforce units. This would include three levels of parking, eight floors of housing, and ground-level retail that would be sold to help cover the cost of construction.
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Three local foundations could help cover the cost of purchasing the land including the Barancik Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
Some residents during Monday’s meeting expressed opposition to the government getting involved in local housing.
“For Sarasota to be a more inclusive and diverse city, that is what we need. You are going to have those who are opposed to any type of affordable housing near them, or on the corridors or what have you, but we have to listen to our conscience and what is best for the city and not for our particular group of people,” said Commissioner Kyle Battie.
However, other residents applauded the city for making a bold move to address the ongoing affordable housing crisis.
“This is quite remarkable that they are making an investment of this size to do this right here in the center of the city,” said county residents and affordable housing advocate John Harney.
The concept plan restricts the rental units to individuals making between 80% and 120% of the area median income, which is around $50,000 to $75,000 a year.
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Harney feels that range misses out on a large portion of the working class.
“Anything that gets built is helpful, so it is really important for that to happen, but it is not reaching the large numbers of the lower end. There really is not an alternative for them beyond doing something like this where you make it as a plan,” said Harney.
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch expressed a similar viewpoint. She wants to see the commission broaden the range to include residents in a lower AMI.
“There is a need across a wide swath of that range, and I don’t mind us focusing on 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 AMI. I don’t mind that at all. I would actually welcome that, that is what I would like to see so that we have a range of units that are affordable across-the-board. I think that 120 AMI goes into a category that is above and beyond what is really affordable housing, but I am very hopeful we will have a range. There will be 120s, but I would like to see the vast majority of them 80 and going down from there so that we can meet that need,” said Commissioner Ahearn-Koch.
A lot could change by the time the city reaches the point of breaking ground on the project. After the purchase is complete and the design is ready to go, the hope is for that to happen sometime in mid-2025.
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