State of government housing in SWFL

There are thousands of people hoping for government assistance in getting housing in Collier, Charlotte and Lee counties.

With the construction of market-rate and luxury apartment units continuing to rise across the region, affordable housing for people with household incomes at or lower than $43,350 per year, which is about 60% of the Southwest Florida area’s median income, has become more difficult to find. And it has put a strain on the area’s three biggest public housing authorities.

“It’s a big problem out here,” says Oscar Hentschel, executive director of Collier County Housing Authority. “People have to be aware. A lot of people are sleeping in their cars. And we try to help them.”

Hentschel said there’s a waiting list of at least 80 families hoping to move into one of the existing 591 units. Most of those units are located in Horizon Village in Immokalee. There are 315 units set aside for agricultural workers and 276 units for low-income earners, he said. In the city of Naples, there are eight units, which is less than 2% of the total. “We’re just starting to acquire rental units that we can rent with housing assistance,” Hentschel says. “Three to four per year as we can get funding.”

There are no plans to add any more units via new construction, he said. “We have to talk to the county to see when the funding would become available,” Hentschel says.

As executive director of Punta Gorda Housing Authority, Kurt Pentelecuc oversees 321 affordable housing units. Of those, 184 receive public funding. The organization answers to the Punta Gorda City Council but covers all of Charlotte County, including North Port.

The organization is still recovering from the 2004 devastation of Hurricane Charley, which destroyed 154 public housing units, leaving only 30. “Currently, we are still doing a final phase of replacement of 150 public housing units,” Pentelecuc says. “We still have four unbuilt projects.”

In Punta Gorda, Gulf Breeze apartments were revitalized and rebuilt with 171 units, 85 of which are public housing. The Veranda of Punta Gorda, Phase 1 and 2, will create 120 affordable housing units, with 65 of them public housing, he said. “Our waiting list averages anywhere from 16 to 24 months. We are accepting new applicants,” he says. “On average, what we’re seeing is it ranges anywhere from 100 to 275 families per unit waiting. We’ve seen an increase in calls and inquiries on housing assistance. There’s just not enough.”

Fort Myers Housing Authority has the highest number of units, the biggest forthcoming influx of money and plans to build more units. It also has by far the longest waiting list of the region’s three largest organizations.

There are about 1,400 affordable housing units in Lee County, said Marcia Davis, executive director. “We have 10,000 people on a waiting list.”

The Greater Dunbar Initiative, expected to break ground in early 2024 and be finished by the end of 2026, should help alleviate some of the burden, Davis said, with the planned construction of 467 new units.

The project will be funded with about $30 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Up first, building 92 units off U.S. 41 in a lot that used to be a used car dealership. Upon completion of that, Southward Village, located off Edison Avenue, will be razed and rebuilt over three phases on about 40 acres of land that has been reenvisioned.

“There’s always a gap,” Davis says. “And we have to fill it.”

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