{"id":367780,"date":"2026-08-10T21:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/367780\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T21:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:08:10","slug":"affordable-housing-proposed-near-billy-creek-in-fort-myers-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/367780\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable housing proposed near Billy Creek in Fort Myers | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An aerial rendering shows the proposed 96-unit Billy Creek affordable and workforce housing development in Fort Myers. The $20 million project would include four three-story residential buildings, parking and open space near Billy Creek.<\/p>\n

Fort Myers government<\/p>\n

Broward County-based developer Luis Jurado of Premiere Development Solutions plans to build a three-story, 96-unit affordable and workforce housing complex on the south side of Billy Creek in Fort Myers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is asking the city to rezone 8 acres that he owns, just north of Michigan Avenue at 1455 Lockwood Drive, from residential low density to medium density. That would allow multifamily apartments instead of only single-family homes on the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Premiere Development bought the property for $800,000 in 2025, Lee County records show. The developers estimate the project will cost $20 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to express to this board that we\u2019re not just building apartments,\u201d Jurado said. \u201cWe\u2019re building an affordable housing need that is much required not only in this area but in many parts of Florida.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Affordable housing is defined as housing that costs less than 30% of pre-tax income, according to a 2025 study by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It found that the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area has a deficit of 17,553 affordable rental units for those making up to 60% of the area median income. The deficit falls to 11,849 units for those making up to 80% and 2,463 for those making up to 100% of AMI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A map shows the proposed Billy Creek development site at 1455 Lockwood Drive in Fort Myers, north of Michigan Avenue. The 8-acre property is near Billy Creek and the Fort Myers Cemetery.<\/p>\n

Fort Myers government<\/p>\n

The shortage reaches its peak at 60% and by 120% AMI becomes a surplus of 3,447 units. At 140% AMI, the surplus grows to 5,068 units.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee County\u2019s median household income was $76,107 from 2020-24, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fort Myers Planning Board initially rejected the project but changed course after hearing further details, voting 4-3 to recommend that the City Council approve the Billy Creek Planned Unit Development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council will have the final say on the development, which is still in its early planning stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dissenting board members continued to worry that the project could negatively impact flooding, traffic and the single-family homes that border the site. Several area residents shared their concerns at Planning Board meetings in July and August, asking the board to reject Premiere Development\u2019s plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One nearby resident worried that bright lights from the parking lot would shine in his windows at night. Others suggested that low-income housing units would draw crime to a peaceful neighborhood and worsen traffic on Michigan Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A rendering shows the proposed Billy Creek development in Fort Myers. Premiere Development Solutions plans a three-story, 96-unit affordable and workforce housing complex on 8 acres at 1455 Lockwood Drive.<\/p>\n

Fort Myers government<\/p>\n

Jurado and his team narrowly convinced the Planning Board after addressing those concerns. They pointed to two affordable housing developments less than a mile away, East Pointe Place Apartments and St. Peter Claver Place, that were also blended into residential areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Billy Creek PUD would help the community manage stormwater and flooding by paying for improvements to a nearby lift station, setting the development back from the creek and including 3 to 4 acres of open green space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The developers produced a traffic analysis showing that their project would create fewer trips at peak hours than a comparable single-family home community. That failed to convince some board members because the development team was comparing four- to five-bedroom homes with a complex that calls for one- to three-bedroom apartments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition, Billy Creek PUD would offer community benefits by building sidewalks and adding public access to the creek with a nonmotorized boat dock.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An aerial rendering shows the proposed 96-unit Billy Creek affordable and workforce housing development in Fort Myers. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1571,149027,209,211,210,897,149026,32834],"class_list":["post-367780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-affordable-housing","tag-billy-creek","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-fort-myers","tag-premiere-development-solutions","tag-workforce-housing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}