Apartment project coming to Pasco

Although rental rate growth in Gulf Coast multifamily properties has risen steadily for the past three years, a Coconut Grove developer is building an alternative that will be more in line with stagnant wage gains.

Housing Trust Group has begun work on the Park at Wellington in Holiday, a 220-unit multifamily complex it contends will provide “affordable housing.”

The $38 million complex is being financed with a combination of low-income housing tax credit equity and a conventional construction loan.

More than half the units will be dedicated for renters “earning at or below 40% to 60% of area median income,” Housing Trust says. When completed next year, monthly rents are expected to range from $367 to $783, for apartments ranging in size from 676 square feet to 1,379 square feet.

A second, market-rate phase of the community will begin construction in November.

“Park at Wellington aims to ease the burden on working families by providing modern, affordable housing in a safe, friendly neighborhood environment,” says Matthew Rieger, Housing Trust's president and CEO.

The project marks Housing Trust's fifth underway in Florida, and comes at a time when many market-rate landlords have been able to hike rents by double-digit percentages in response to lack of new supply, continued fallout from the last decade's foreclosure crisis and shifting consumer sentiments.

Housing Trust has developed or owns more than 4,000 apartment units in Florida and Tennessee, according to its website.

Though the Pasco County, garden-style complex will be more affordable than some other Gulf Coast rental offerings, it won't lack for modern amenities. Housing Trust plans a clubhouse featuring a cyber cafe, swimming pool, exercise room, after-school care, a playground and a dog park.