A 208-unit apartment tower in Clearwater, Florida, that operated for 50 years as an affordable senior living complex before being turned into market rate housing that displaced its financially vulnerable residents is being transitioned into an affordable housing community.
The Tampa Bay Times reports the former Prospect Towers, which was acquired in 2020 by an investment group and turned into The Indigo Apartments, is under contract to the Palm Beach-based Sunrise Affordable Housing Group, which plans to reserve all units to residents making from 30% to 80% of the area’s median income. For the Clearwater market, that ranges from about $18,000 to $50,000 a year for a two-person household.
The $47.8 million project will include $1 million from the city’s state and federal housing dollars, $2 million from the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency and $7 million from Pinellas County’s Penny for Pinellas one-cent sales tax dollars. The remainder of the project will be funded by a federal housing loan, tax credits and deferred developer profits, along with $6 million to be paid to the developer.
The building is slated to receive $9 million in planned upgrades. Through the funding agreement with the county, the land will be placed into the Pinellas County Land Trust and will remain as affordable housing in perpetuity.
“It’s bringing back affordable housing back to downtown,” Jesus Niño, executive director of the Community Redevelopment Agency.
Photo courtesy of Indigo Apartments
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