New senior housing facility gets funding; more affordable housing may follow at Poinciana Plaza

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West officials are lighting a fire under efforts to build new affordable housing facilities at Poinciana Plaza.

Manuel Castillo, executive director of the Key West Housing Authority, recently announced that his agency has finalized funding for a new 108-unit senior citizen living development at Poinciana Plaza on Duck Avenue in New Town. The $21.5 million facility will include 60 independent living apartments for seniors and 48 apartments for assisted living, where residents can receive supportive services such as house cleaning and laundry. A nurse will also be on site 24 hours a day to help residents manage their medications but no other medical services will be available.

There is no date set yet for construction to begin, however, Castillo said it will take approximately 30 months to complete the project after ground is broken.

Heartened by Castillo’s success in obtaining funding for the much-needed senior housing project, Key West City Commissioners are set to direct City Manager Jim Scholl to look at Poinciana Plaza, which is owned by the housing authority, as a site for another building, this one for affordable and workforce housing. While the commission approved this idea back in February, no plan has been offered publically for commissioners to consider.

Newly-elected commissioners Sam Kaufman and Richard Payne along with Commissioner Billy Wardlow sponsored a resolution ordering Scholl to make the creation of affordable and workforce housing at Poinciana Plaza a “top priority.”

“[W]ithin 60 days the city manager shall present the commission with an outline of development options and timelines to actually provide additional affordable and workforce housing at Poinciana Plaza,” the resolution stated.

The three commissioners also stated that Poinciana Plaza appears to be an “ideal location” for buildings to exceed the current height and density regulations. While the new senior housing facility will not be higher than the currently allowed 40 feet, a possible new workforce housing building may be the catalyst for commissioners to finally do what they have discussed for years, allow certain housing projects in specific parts of the city to be built up to five, possibly six stories.

Castillo told city commissioners last February that there is room for another building in Poinciana Plaza that would provide 30 units of affordable housing. Currently, there are 153 units of existing affordable housing on the property, located at 17th Street and Duck Avenue.

But if height limits were changed, that estimated 30 units could be increased exponentially.

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