Low-Low Cost Work Force Housing Earns High-Highest Platinum Certification in Florida

Low-Low Cost Work Force Housing Earns High-Highest Platinum Certification in Florida

And the Lowest Work Force Housing Rates in the Florida Keys

Marathon – A 26 unit multi-family, low income work force housing project located in Marathon, Florida has just been awarded the highest Platinum Florida Green Housing Certification designation in the State of Florida. The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) states it successfully met the sustainability standards established in the FGBC Florida Green Multi-Family Home Certification program. Another identical 26 units was designated a higher Platinum rating in February 2017. Keys Affordable Development LLC in Marathon now has 78 fully occupied low affordable housing units with another 16 units coming on line by November in Big Pine Key. By the end the year those four projects will total 93 new green-certified work force housing apartments. They will all feature water star high efficiency appliances and in-unit washers and dryers, which are considered a life quality enhancement for the vast majority of Keys workers.

The first project, built by Keys Affordable Development LLC, achieved 216 points out of a possible 300, earning it the highest point designation in the State of Florida, awarded in October, 2017. FGBC Certifying Agent Ric Lightner (a member of the Key West Sustainability Advisory Board to the Key West) is working with all four projects to verify compliance to the FGBC Standards.

All Marathon rents are based on income, with all one, two and three-bedroom apartments reserved for very low to moderate-income residents earning between 25 and 60 percent of the Keys’ median income, which is $72,500 for a family of four.

Income and Rent Overburden in Key West:

In Florida households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be rent overburdened. In Key West, a household making less than $5,047 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 60.59% of households who rent are overburdened in Key West and the Keys. And there is a vast discrepancy in these residential lease amounts:

In Marathon presently monthly rentals for one-bedroom units range from $185.00 for low-income residents to $749 for moderate-income residents.  The larger three-bedroom units will range from $277 to $1,059.

By comparison, there will 24 affordable units out of the new 80 newly sold Ocean Walk Apartments in Key West. Those will also include one to three bedroom units. If leased at Key West low income monthly will rent for $1,470 versus $277 for a one-bedroom Marathon. A Key West three-bedroom low income monthly rate will be $1,838 versus $1,059 for a three-bedroom in Marathon.

The FGBC Green Designation represents achievements in a number of categories, such as energy efficiency, water conservation, site preservation, health, materials, and durability, including disaster mitigation.

FGBC-certified homes complete a technically rigorous building assessment and construction process to promote design and construction practices that reduce the negative environmental impacts of the building, improve occupant health and well-being, and reduce operating costs by as much as to 40% for the occupants.

Green certified homes may have substantially lower utility bills, and may qualify for advantageous financing, lower insurance rates and government incentives.

About the Green Sustainability Contributor

Ric Lightner is a FGBC Consulting Certifying Agent who has only certified Platinum in the categories of residential and multi-family residential homes in his career since 2009.

He is a designer-restorer of rainwater harvesting systems and as an ARCSA AP, a U.S. Southeast Regional Rep. He is a U.S. Green Building Council LEED AP BD+C and a Florida Builder and Real Estate Broker.  He has restored dozens of homes, guesthouses and cisterns in the 4,500 home Historic Preservation District of Key West. The average size of a cistern was 5,000 gallons. 

As a Design and Analysis member of the FGBC Board of Directors. He is a member of the City of the Key West Sustainability Advisory Board. A member to the Key West Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council LEED AP [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional], He sits on the following FGBC Standards Committees: * Homes * Education * Commercial Buildings * High-rise Residential * Local Government * Programs & Promotions * Affordable Housing * Annual Green Trends Convention * 

As a Green Sustainability Educator and ARCSA Rainwater Harvester, he has conducted a minimum of six Seminars annually since 2012. They have always included Rainwater Collecting and a variety of global warming related issues including green building, restoration of historic cisterns, and septic conversions through the Zika Virus (See sample attachments). [email protected]. 

About the Florida Green Building Coalition

The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) is a nonprofit 501(C)3 Florida corporation founded in 2000 dedicated to improving the built environment. Its mission is “to lead and promote sustainability with environmental, economic, and social benefits through regional education and certification programs.”

FGBC certification programs are the only standards developed with climate specific criteria to address issues caused by Florida’s hot-humid environment and natural disasters. Currently, FGBC is the leading certifier of green projects in Florida with over 16,000 homes certified. For more information about the FGBC “Florida Green” certification programs visit www.floridagreenbuilding.org.

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