BVL development will add 60 units of low-income, high-quality senior housing
The Buen Vecino Apartment project, which will bring 60 units of affordable housing for our community’s lower-income residents aged 62 or older, nearly didn’t happen.
Because of a lack of funding sources to get the project out of the ground, the Osceola Council on Aging nearly sold the ground — six acres of what used to be a golf course on Competition Drive in Buenaventura Lakes.
“We nearly sold the property,” Council on Aging CEO Wendy Ford said at Tuesday’s groundbreaking. “I had a buyer in 2021, when HUD called and said they’d miscalculated our score (and became eligible for a grant). It was a godsend, because there was no other way that this would happen. After 15 years we kept finding funding gaps. Now the hurdles are past. I can’t express how excited we are to be breaking ground.”
Thanks to those partnerships and their ability to help fund a dream — a $5.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $5.2 million from Osceola County, $500,000 from the city of Kissimmee — they and the Council broke ground on the project Tuesday. Construction should start in earnest soon, Ford said.
Buen Vecino, Spanish for “Good Neighbor”, will be targeted to the area’s low-income seniors. Rent will be HUD subsidized, as tenants will pay 30 percent of the income to rent the one-story, one-bedroom apartments. The development will include a community clubhouse that will host congregate meals and activities for the senior residents.
Former Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez is now the HUD Region Administrator for the Southeast, including Florida, and shared his excitement about “coming home” to get this project under way.
“I am thrilled to witness Osceola County and the city of Kissimmee being part of the solution of increasing affordable housing,” he said Tuesday. “Affordable housing is much needed in Kissimmee. A big part of the problem is a lack of housing, but housing supply is a fixable issue, so the solution is boost the supply of quality housing. Together, government working at all levels with local non-profits can work. This is one of many projects I know we can do.”
He noted that Tuesday was the 55th anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act, which makes discrimination in providing housing federally illegal.
Congressman Darren Soto said he’s grateful to see such an important project move forward.
“Central Florida is a popular place to live, and housing is a huge challenge in this community,” he said. “While we’ll be able to help 60 people with reasonable housing, but there’s more work to do.”
Local government partners, like Kissimmee Mayor Olga Gonzalez and County Commissioner Viviana Janer, said they hope this is the start of a trend locally to increase affordable housing.
“A good neighbor is someone who is tolerant and understanding, and someone who builds strong communities,” she said. “They didn’t get a buyer because God had a plan. I pray there are more developers who want to get involved in building low-income housing. Homelessness is a catastrophe that’s not going anywhere.”
“We have another project right down the road in BVL that needs funding,” said Janer, whose district 2 includes Buenaventura Lakes.
