Loveland Center and Habitat of South Sarasota County partner on new affordable community

With $15 million in state funding secured, the Loveland Center and Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County will embark on the public phase of fundraising for the “Senator Nancy C. Detert Home of Your Own,” 122-unit inclusive affordable housing community.

The $24.4 million community includes a three-story apartment complex featuring 84 one- and two-bedroom apartments that can be rented by individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or seniors age 65 and older who live on no more than 65% of the annual median income for Sarasota County.

Groundbreaking for the apartment complex is targeted for early 2024, with the goal of having units ready sometime in 2025 and a grand opening in 2026.

The south Sarasota County-based nonprofit, which was established in 1962, provides life skills training for more than 400 individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities at four locations in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Loveland still needs to raise at least $5 million for the apartments and its portion of the villas, while Habitat will have to raise about $7 million.

An all-inclusive affordable community

The apartments will be built on 7.5 acres on the east side of Loveland’s campus at 157 South Havana Road in Venice, along with 38 two- and three-bedroom villas that are being built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County.

While 40% of those villas will be set aside for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the remaining 60% will be available as affordable housing for anyone who qualifies under the Habitat for Humanity model.

“The 60% part will be workforce and families and could be seniors,” said Loveland President & CEO Patrick Guerin. “I will tell you that I have a few staff members that are currently working for Loveland that are interested in moving into the community when it is fully built, and they’ll be going through that 60%.”

A novel approach for Habitat

Christina McCauley, executive director and CEO for Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County, said the partnership with Loveland is the first of its kind for the nonprofit.

“We’re really excited,” McCauley said. “It’s something that neither organization has done before.”

Still, she added, Habitat is also taking care to ensure that, “we’re doing everything right and staying true to our mission.”

That means that Habitat will finish homes currently under way on single-family lots in Venice and North Port and transition to concentrating solely on fundraising for and building the villas on the Loveland site.

“We thought it was a fabulous idea, not only to help individuals with disabilities but for our own folks, it’s really easy for us to have everything in one location,” McCauley said. “To have all of our construction focused in one area, to have all of our materials in one area, it’s a faster, more efficient way to get people moved into their home than having 10 lots spread out among two cities or more.

“We really want to honor Patrick’s vision of not having this institutionalized living; we really want to mix everybody together and make it a community.”

Grant funds dedicated to apartments

Stephen and Redenta Picazio have pledged an additional $1 million for naming rights to one of the three apartment buildings.

Naming opportunities for the other buildings are still available.

Through legislation sponsored by state Rep. James Buchanan, R-Sarasota, and state Sen. Jim Boyd, R–Bradenton, Loveland received $15 million from the state of Florida for the affordable housing community, which was championed by Detert. That and a $5 million grant from the Sarasota County Commission will all go to the construction of the three apartment buildings.

'A synergistic community’

The first residential complex – the 42-unit Nancy Detert Residences at Loveland Village – opened in the spring of 2016.

That $12.1 million complex received state funding – again championed by Detert – and was the first of its kind in Florida.

Related: 'We all lost a champion yesterday': Sarasota County commissioner Nancy Detert dies at 78

In 2019, Loveland’s board of directors and Guerin established a strategic initiative that targeted affordable housing as a top need for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

It has already committed about $2 million in land and infrastructure costs; bought the 7.5 acres in February 2020 and then hired Fleischman Garcia Kozlowski Architecture, A&M Engineering, and Halfacre Construction.

“The whole purpose behind this is to really create a community that’s synergistic,” Guerin said. “One of the reasons you have seniors there is that’s the highest volunteer group we have here at Loveland – those are the people who come and volunteer here with our individuals and the same thing as a turnaround the group that our individuals can go and volunteer with to support them are seniors.”

The hope is that other residents who buy into the Habitat workforce housing will fit the community as seamlessly.

“We want to make sure the people who are moving in here are here to help each other,” he added.

A chance to build wealth

Loveland will essentially hold the mortgages for the individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, at an anticipated cost of $500 a month.

“It’s to help people with an IDD get some financial security in their life and to buy their own home because traditionally that’s not something that’s given to people with IDD,” Guerin said.

Guerin said Loveland’s stretch goal for the project is close to $30 million, since he wants to set aside enough money to cover the costs typically covered by homeowners association fees for about 15 years.

Interested donors can contact Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County at development@habitatsouthsarasota.org or call 941493-6606; or Camille Cline at Loveland at ccline@lovelandcenter.org or call 941-539-8872,

The partnership is still evolving and eventually there may be a central avenue for people to donate to Home Of Your Own and split that contribution between the two nonprofits.

Guerin stressed that the community must be maintained as affordable housing for at least 30 years, “so we have a process in place for the Habitat mortgaged homes, Habitat holds first right of refusal and Loveland is going to be the mortgage holder on a few homes also and we would hold the first right of refusal on those so we can turn around and buy them out and then maintain the affordability.”

Guerin, who took over at Loveland six years ago after 25 years in human services in the New York area, anticipates a successful fundraising effort.

“I am so impressed by the people in this community and their willingness to support the community and support other people in need,” he said. “I see it all the time. It’s one of the things that Sarasota County always blows me away on – the fact that there’s so many people in this community who just care about others in the community and are willing to give from their personal funds to help someone out is extremely impressive and it touches my heart to see that.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Loveland, Habitat for Humanity partner to build 122 affordable homes