by SC Publisher Shannen Hayes
Sanibel City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Oct. 1 supporting Community Housing & Resources’ application to Lee County for Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding.
Due to the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Ian in September 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the county $1,107,881,000 in CDBG-DR funding to support local long-term recovery efforts.
CHR applied for $5 million in CDBG-DR funding to help acquire land and build 20 new affordable workforce housing units at 1874 Middle Gulf Dr. County staff ranked its application low and not recommended for funding.
The CDBG-DR Affordable Housing Projects evaluation committee met on Sept. 9 and expressed concern over CHR’s application being deemed ineligible. The committee is allowing CHR on Oct. 7 to address the issues that purportedly caused county staff to rank its application low.
“A resolution in support (of the application) from the city would be heavily weighted in CHR’s favor,” CHR Executive Director Nicole McHale told the council.
CHR provided and managed 87 affordable housing units on Sanibel before the landfall of Ian. The catastrophic storm destroyed 13 units, or 15 percent of its total units, and heavily damaged the rest.
CHR has repaired and reopened the damaged units through insurance proceeds, reserves, and fundraising efforts. The organization is raising funds to replace the 12 destroyed units at Riverview with 20 units and has applied for CDBG-DR funding to help build 20 more units on Middle Gulf Drive.
The proposal is to purchase an approximately 6.74-acre vacant parcel on Middle Gulf Drive and build two structures with 10 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units each. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $10,043,366.
Council members expressed their full support of CHR and its mission. “We absolutely support building workforce housing on the island,” said Councilwoman Holly Smith.
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