Housing authority, Pinnacle complete two affordable housing projects

The Housing Authority of the city of Fort Myers and Pinnacle Housing Group LLC have completed redeveloping two former public-housing properties to create 212 affordable housing units. The community Palmetto Court was demolished and the 86-unit master-planned East Pointe Place community was built in its place. At the same time, the existing Sabal Palm Apartments was gutted and rehabbed to serve as the 126-unit Landings at East Pointe.

The apartments are located just north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard west of Interstate 75.

The combined $38.3 million investment was made possible through a public/private partnership between Pinnacle and Southwest Florida Affordable Housing Choice Foundation Inc., a nonprofit created by the Housing Authority of the city of Fort Myers.

“The overall condition of these properties had deteriorated due to functional obsolescence and were in need of significant rehabilitation,” Marcus D. Goodson, the housing authority's executive director, says in a press release. “The buildings had aged significantly, and the operation of the development was inefficient due to the condition of the structures plus the inefficient nature of the complexes themselves.”
The public/private partnership secured low-income housing tax credits from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to provide rental assistance on the properties for no less than 20 years.

Chris-Tel Construction was the general contractor for the Landings at East Pointe and BSSW Architects Inc. provided the design. Brooks and Freund built East Pointe Place and Parker/Mudgett/Smith Architects designed the project.