CRESTVIEW — Affordable housing for senior citizens is officially in development on Brookmeade Drive. The City Council on Thursday voted 3-1 to approve various agreements that will bring 102 units to property just south of the Hospital Drive-Brookmeade intersection.
The council approved a $1 million loan agreement, mortgage, rental regulatory agreement, promissory note and subordination agreement with Katie Manor Ltd. during a special meeting. Council members Bill Cox, Mickey Rytman and Council President Shannon Hayes favored the agreements; Councilman JB Whitten dissented.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity granted the city $1 million so that Katie Manor would contract with Crestview and built the property under its terms. For instance, Katie Manor must charge rent "equal to or less than 30 percent of annual incomes for households at or below 60 percent of area median income … minus tenant-paid utilities," the agreement states.
Some risk is involved. "There are no absolute guarantees about exposure," city attorney Jerry Miller said. "We have done what is regular and routine in these kinds of transactions, which involve the city being in a position of a second mortgagee related to the trust funds that are being passed to us and that we in turn are contracting through this loan agreement for the developer to build and operate this business."
Whitten questioned what would happen if the project failed. "Our budget's $29 million … I'm just not willing to gamble that kind of money on something that's not risk-free," he said.
Hayes said many seniors need affordable housing and the reward is worth the risk. "There's risk involved in anything," he said. "For one individual citizen, that's a lot of money, but for a city to do business, $1 million is not a lot of money."
Katie Manor, with similar developments in Jacksonville and Orlando, is not new to affordable housing, city officials said. "They had to prove that they were the people who could do this and who deserve the million dollars," City Clerk Betsy Roy said.
The city expects an estimated $20,000 annually from the apartments' water and sewer bills; that's in addition to revenues from excise taxes and utility services.
The rental housing likely would be available sometime in 2016 or 2017, according to the agreement, which states that the city will pay for attorney fees and time for city staffers' work on the project.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council OKs $1 million loan for seniors' affordable housing