FIRST CODE COMPLIANT TINY HOME IN MONROE COUNTY PILOT PROJECT BREAKS GROUND IN KEY LARGO

KEY LARGO, FL – The first Monroe County approved tiny home received a permit this week in Key Largo. The pilot project is one of two planned homes the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners approved in December 2018 to serve as code-compliant models for residents who are rebuilding after losing their homes during Hurricane Irma. The commissioners wanted to be creative and find products that are wind and flood resistant that homeowners can consider as replacements after Irma.

The home will be delivered to Jenny Lane in Key Largo in about three weeks and will be open to the public to view and tour after it is hooked up to utilities and the inspections are finalized. This home is one bedroom and one bathroom, a little less than 400 square feet, code compliant, and starts at $85,000.

“I am very excited about this project,” said Monroe County Assistant County Administrator Christine Hurley. “More than 4,000 homes throughout the Keys were destroyed or majorly damaged by Hurricane Irma, and these tiny home prototypes are code compliant, more resilient alternatives to mobile homes.”

The County solicited vendor proposals to design and build different resilient code compliant prototype tiny homes on County-owned land. Cornerstone Tiny Homes owners Kim and Brett Hiltbrand had a vision to create safe, small footprint homes that would be a viable option for those struggling to own or rebuild their home. They provide their clients several floorplan options, which are all Florida Building Code compliant and can withstand winds up to 180 mph. John Gallant, Broker at Engel & Völkers Islamorada, helped with permitting.

“The officials in Monroe County are forward thinking and we appreciate how proactively they’re working to solve the affordable housing dilemma,” said Kim. “The Cornerstone team is honored to place one of their homes in Key Largo and hopefully many others once the tiny home pilot program in Monroe County proves successful.”

RAS Engineering also developed plans and is in the permitting stage for an elevated storage container-type tiny home to construct on Big Pine Key. The homes will be used as affordable housing after being opened to the public for viewing. The County may reissue a solicitation to build another tiny home project later this year.

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