Holding a ceremonial shovel in his hand while wearing a hard hat, Rick Miller shoveled some ceremonial dirt Tuesday morning in Fort Myers, where his company finally celebrated the groundbreaking of an affordable housing project that has been in the works for years.
St. Peter Claver Place Apartments has been planned for seven years. “We spent two years rezoning the land,” said Miller, president of National Development of America Inc. “Then it took five years to get the funding. It’s very complicated. We have five different forms of funding.”
The apartments will open in two phases, with phase one having 136 units and opening by the end of this year and phase two having 78 units, making for a total of 214 units.
The apartments will have an address of 3681 Michigan Ave., in Fort Myers, just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Residents must qualify depending on their financial status, making between 30% and 60% of the city’s average median income. For 2022, that was $83,200, with qualifying salaries based on last year’s numbers being annual incomes between $25,000 and $50,000. Rents will fall between $600 and $1,300 per month.
Brooks & Freund, which built City Walk in Fort Myers, is the general construction contractor.
“This is a great project,” said Michele Hylton-Terry, executive director of the Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Association, which pledged $4.5 million in tax incentives for the apartments. “Can you imagine getting a two-bedroom for $600 a month?”
City of Fort Myers is contributing $700,000 from an affordable housing trust fund.
“It’s very important,” Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said. “Any time you can increase the affordable housing supply, especially when it’s arranged for people who are struggling, it’s great for the city. If you’re spending too much of your monthly income on housing, that affects everything else that you do.”
Miller’s company purchased the land from the Diocese of Venice for $400,000 in October 2022. The project could not have happened without that land deal, Miller said.
“It’s so rewarding after seven years of working,” Miller said. “It’s a big day not only for us, but for the Diocese of Venice and the city of Fort Myers.
“It’s not a business for them. It’s a calling for them.”
National Development of America closed on the property right after Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida. The company has developed and redeveloped a number of other projects across the region, including Coral Village in Cape Coral, Governors Island in south Fort Myers, the Rookery and Willows subdivisions in south Fort Myers and Palm Harbor apartments in North Fort Myers.
The company also recently renovated Pueblo Bonita in Bonita Springs, which it had originally built about 20 years ago.
“Hurricane Ian pushed everything back,” Miller said of St. Peter Claver Place Apartments. “It was karma, I guess. It took us a while to regroup and find the right time for everyone to be available.”
