Key West Residents Prepare for Important Vote on Workforce Housing 

On January 18, 2022, residents of Key West will be asked to vote in a monumental special election to support affordable workforce housing on the 3.2 acre property in Bahama Village, next to Truman Waterfront.

The ballot asks residents if they will support the extension of a land lease that ensures the land can be used only for affordable housing for 99 years. The City’s Charter currently allows leases for up to 20 years. The land lease extension will ensure that housing remains affordable, and it will make the developer eligible to receive funding up to 100% from the state for construction. Without the land lease extension, it will be difficult if not impossible to build at affordable rates.

There are three ways for residents to vote. Mail-in ballots will go out beginning December 15, 2021. Early voting at the polls is from January 3 – 14. Live voting at the polls will take place on January 18, 2022.

“This land has been vacant for long enough,” says Terrance Lopez, Bahama Village community member and fifth-generation resident of Key West. Lopez is a corrections officer at the Department of Juvenile Justice and lives in Bahama Village with his wife and two children.

“It’s time to give our community something we felt we have lost. We must vote ‘yes’ to the referendum, and ‘yes’ to our future.” 

The housing will include approximately 126 units with a portion dedicated to home ownership. Bahama Village community members will be encouraged to apply first, but the housing will be open to other community members as well. The goal is to ensure that all of the units are for local, full-time residents.

The housing units will range from one to three bedrooms. Rent per month and sale price for homeownership will vary based on household income ranging from 25% to 140% Area Median Income (AMI).  Workforce Housing Guidelines regulates the rental and mortgage amounts, to 30% to 40% of household income.

After a competitive process, the City of Key West awarded the contract to build the housing to The Vestcor Companies Inc, in partnership with Charley Toppino & Sons, Inc and A.H. of Monroe County, Inc (AH). All three organizations have worked together in the past to build workforce housing; AH, a trusted non-profit organization, is well-known for their work on Poinciana Royale and Marty’s Place. Community meetings are being held to ensure that there is extensive input into the final plans.

The housing is sorely needed as Key West experiences an unprecedented housing and labor crisis. According to the Chamber of Commerce, more than 2,000 people left Key West between March 2020 and April 2021.  With housing prices soaring and an influx of people moving to the Keys, workforce housing is scarce.

Once the referendum is passed the project, to be called “The Lofts at Bahama Village”, can proceed, with housing expected by early 2024.

For more information on the referendum visit www.housingforallkw.org

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