Affordable Housing Opens in Central Florida

Eustis, Fla.—Housing Trust Group, a specialist in affordable housing, has opened Valencia Grove, a 144-unit affordable housing community in the central Florida town of Eustis. The property offers working families a mix of one- two- and three-bedroom units.

With prices ranging from $405 to $849 per month, the apartments also offer rents that are hard to find in most parts of Florida. And there was a strong response: Valencia Grove was 100 percent leased upon opening.

Common amenities include a clubhouse, playground, volleyball court, outdoor pool, dog park and car wash. The development also provides no-charge-to-residents community programs such as literacy training, employment assistance and family-support coordination. HTG broke ground on the project in December 2015, and completed it two months ahead of schedule.

Project funding was the usual complex mix of sources for affordable housing. They included a 4 percent SAIL loan under the State Apartment Incentive Loan program; an ELI GAP loan from Florida Housing Finance Corp.; a grant from the City of Eustis; and tax credit equity from US Bank Corporation. SunTrust provided the debt through tax-exempted multifamily revenue state bonds.

HTG currently five affordable housing communities under construction in Florida, including Wagner Creek in Miami, Freedom Gardens in Brooksville, Park at Wellington in Holiday, Arbor View in Margate, and Covenant Villas in Belle Glade, along with two market-rate developments outside Florida: Forest Cove in Chattanooga, and Aviva in Mesa, Ariz.