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Our

Affordable Housing

Crisis Will Affect Everyone

by Joe Trachtenberg,
Chairman of Collier County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee On the surface this is a great deal. But it gets a little muddier.
HUD has created an annual statistic called AMI (Area Median
oday over 45,000 Collier County Income). There are so many wealthy people in Collier County,
workers can no longer afford to live here. our AMI for 2022 is about $98,000, nearly the highest in Florida.
TAnd as rental costs continue to rise, they The 30% apartments reserved for affordable use are almost always
will soon be priced out of the Lee County/Fort designated for individuals and families earning 80, 100 and 120%
Myers markets. As if things weren’t bad enough, AMI. So, while it’s terrific that folks at this income level are
Hurricane Ian painfully reduced housing getting apartments they can afford, the majority of our workers
availability. earn substantially less than 80% AMI. Fact is if you make $30-
If you doubt this, you just need to drive 35,000 a year, like more than half our workers earn, a $2000/
north on Interstate 75 after 4pm. The folks sitting in traffic with month rental apartment is way out of reach. Recently a developer
you are our teachers, nurses, deputies, waiters, builders and store proposed building 208 “luxury” apartments off Vanderbilt Beach
clerks. And everyone else who can no longer afford to live near Road, with 30% of the units reserved for folks with AMI’s of
their job. Frustrating? You bet! In fact, many of them are looking 80% and higher. While it makes sense for questions about traffic
for new jobs near home. and the environment to be raised, I was horrified to hear some
Can we stop the exodus of our workers from Collier County, express concern about crime rates, because of the affordable units.
and actually bring them back? Of course! But first we have to want Undoubtedly this results from a lack of understanding of what
to do this and make this known to our county and city leaders. affordable housing is.
Let’s talk a little about economics. Building market priced We all have pictures in our minds of urban ghettos, poorly
housing is a very good business, with increasing numbers of people operated by city housing authorities. This is NOT what we are
from all over the country wanting to live here. Owning a housing discussing here!
development with rental units is even better - so long as the Our society is dependent upon workers who will care for us
demand keeps growing. when we’re sick, build and keep our homes running, offer groceries
Each time a lease expires, the landlord gets to reprice his and services, teach our children, etc. These folks need housing
apartment. Florida law prohibits any interference in this free proximate to their jobs. The idea they invite crime or will negatively
economic activity so if you can’t afford that extra $1000 a month impact property values is just wrong.
your landlord wants, start packing. Someone is waiting to move Other Florida counties are actually doing something about this
into your home, and you need to scramble to find a new place to problem. On Election Day voters in Palm Beach County approved
live. a referendum authorizing $200MM in bonds for affordable
There are developers who successfully build affordable housing housing.
in Florida. It doesn’t quite take a village to make the economics A new 1300 unit development was recently announced in
work - it takes elected leaders who care about the problem. These Orange County, with the support of the Disney Corporation.
men and women control the zoning rules, and when it comes to Similarly Universal Studios donated land on which 1000 affordable
housing profitability these rules truly matter. units will be built, along with an on-site preschool, retail space
Consider this - most Collier County multi-unit housing and a transportation hub. These organizations recognize without
goes on land zoned for four units per acre, BUT our county employees to serve their businesses and communities, you may as
commissioners can change this to 16 units an acre at will. Or more well turn off the lights.
if they want. In an effort to bring some affordable housing, they’ve Experts estimate Collier County is currently short 10,000
offered this deal to market rate developers - “if you’ll include 30% affordable units, with this number growing annually by over 1000
of your units as affordable, we’ll give you up to 16 units per acre units. We need to do more to solve this problem, starting now.
density.”
52 Life in Naples | January 2023