Affordable Housing Project Begins on College Road

 

Crews are nearly finished the demolition of the former SPCA, Easter Seals and Mosquito Control Buildings to make way for the Garden View Apartments workforce housing on College Road on Stock Island.

The City of Key West has partnered with the Key West Housing Authority to create 103 one-bedroom units explicitly made for the local workforce.

The City Commission, after exploring a number of ways to best use the property, directed staff to proceed with creating the much-needed housing. The City-owned properties have been vacant for some time, and the decades-old buildings are no longer usable. The new units will run about 650 square feet, and the project includes parking for 125 cars as well as bike and scooter parking.

Construction drawings should be finished in October, and the project should break ground in December.

“We’re very excited to see this project underway,” said Assistant City Manager Greg Veliz. “The community understands the dire need for affordable workforce housing, and this is an important repurposing of City-owned property that will benefit our community.”

Estimated at about $27 million, the project will rely on state Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief funding and the Housing Authority’s borrowing capacity as well as the Monroe County Land Authority.

 

In the attached photo: the defunct structure that formerly housed the Florida Keys Mosquito Control offices is the last to be demolished to make way for affordable workforce housing.

 

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