City of Fort Myers aiming to put more people in homes

Many people find it impossible to afford a roof over their families’ heads due to the sky-high cost of homes.

Now, the City of Fort Myers is trying to help.

Under a new program, single-family homes ranging from 1,200 to 1,600 square feet, with one to two-car garages, will be built with a target cost of $230,000 to $260,000.

The city set up the program to help middle and low-income home buyers find affordable housing.

It is no secret the housing costs in Southwest Florida are making it hard to stay in the area, so the city is hoping this program will provide some relief.

This will give opportunities to families in the city earning below 120% of the area median income.

The prospective home buyers would pay the cost of construction, and then the city would take that money to build another home.

Fort Myers Community Development Director Steven Belden said he knows this won’t solve all the problems with affordable housing, but it’s one house at a time.

“It’s one house we have now that we didn’t have before, and hopefully in the future, we can say we have two houses or 10 houses or 20 houses or more, so when I see the people that actually benefit of that assistance, [it] actually makes it worthwhile,” Belden said.

The first house being built on Lincoln Boulevard is a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with a garage and 1,800 square feet. It will sell for $245,000.

If you’re interested, applications will open up on Monday on the City of Fort Myers website. After it goes, they will create a waitlist.