McDowell Secures $42M for Gulf Coast Affordable Housing Project
The developer was able to use Florida’s Live Local Act to help secure financing.
McDowell Housing Partners has closed on financing to develop Ekos at Warrington, a $41.9 million, 120-unit affordable housing community in Pensacola, Fla.. Built through Florida’s Live Local Act, it will be the Miami-based firm’s first development in Pensacola and Escambia County as well as its 17th project in Florida.
Ekos at Warrington, located at 280 Dogwood Drive, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2027. It will be constructed near the Naval Air Station Pensacola, a large military installation that serves as the initial training base for all U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard officers pursuing naval aviation and naval flight officer designation.
Because of the critical shortage of attainable housing surrounding military installations across the state, the 2023 Live Local Act allocates funding specifically for developments serving military bases.
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The project was awarded $10.3 million in State Apartment Incentive Loan and Extremely Low Income funding from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. through RFA 2024-215, Live Local SAIL Financing for Developments Near Military Installations.
Ekos at Warrington is also being financed through a combination of tax-exempt bonds, SAIL/ELI funding from FHFC, and 4 percent non-competitive Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. CREA serves as the tax credit investor, and R4 Capital is the construction and permanent lender.
Park & Eleazer Construction will be the general contractor for the project. Other project team members include Slocum Platts Architects and Kim Do as co-developer.
A focus on community and green amenities
Ekos at Warrington will have four three-story residential buildings and a clubhouse with on-site management and maintenance offices. The development will provide 72 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units ranging from 631 to 1,197 square feet. Unit features include kitchens with granite countertops, full-size stainless steel Energy Star-certified appliances, vinyl floor tiling and washer and dryer connections.
Amenities at Ekos will include a pool, playground, dog park, barbecue area and gazebo. The clubhouse will have a community room with kitchenette and game tables, a fitness center and a media and business room with a computer lab.
The property will be a green building certified under the National Green Building Standards. Energy-efficiency features in residences low-flow plumbing fixtures, SEER 15 HVAC systems, high efficiency impact windows, Energy Star qualified water heaters and LED lighting.
Community services will be provided in partnership with Opening Doors Northwest Florida, a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness across Northwest Florida.
More McDowell projects
Founded in 2019, MHP has secured funding for 22 new affordable communities to date, providing more than 3,100 units across Florida and Texas. In June 2025, MHP completed the second 160-unit phase of Ekos Cadenza, a senior housing community in Naples. Fla. The first phase, which also comprised 160 units, opened in October 2024. Collier County Community Land Trust, Inc., served as the local non-profit partner to MHP.
A month earlier, MHP completed the first phase of Ekos at Arbor Park, a 136-unit affordable senior housing community in North Port, Fla., in Sarasota County. The second phase of the project will have 66 units.
In February 2025, MHP completed the first phase of Southpointe Vista, a $122 million, 332-unit development in Goulds, Fla. It was the firm’s first project in Miami-Dade County. Construction is underway on the second phase, which will have 208 affordable units and is slated for completion later this year.
