Lee County commissioners on March 3 approved loan agreements totaling about $21.6 million to rehabilitate 484 affordable rental housing units in Fort Myers, using federal disaster-recovery funds allocated after Hurricane Ian.
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program. HUD announced in early 2023 that Lee County would receive $1.1 billion in CDBG-DR funds to support long-term recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Lee County on Sept. 28, 2022.
Affordable housing has been a priority for commissioners as the county determines how to deploy the federal allocation.
Under the approved agreements, Renaissance Preserve Senior and Family Apartments, 4224 Renaissance Preserve Way in Fort Myers, will receive about $8.4 million to rehabilitate 272 affordable rental units. East Pointe Place Phase 1, 3501-3515 Dale St., will receive about $7.1 million for improvements to 86 affordable units. The Landings at East Point Affordable Housing Project, 3701 Nelson Tillis Blvd., will receive about $6.1 million to rehabilitate 126 units.
Each development must maintain affordability for at least 20 years as a condition of the funding.
Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds are designed to help communities rebuild housing, infrastructure and local economies after major disasters. In Lee County, officials have emphasized the need to preserve and restore affordable housing stock damaged by Hurricane Ian, particularly as housing costs continue to rise.
The rehabilitation projects are intended to improve living conditions for residents while protecting long-term affordability in a region that continues to experience growth and recovery challenges more than three years after the storm.