With little fanfare, Salix on Vine has opened up, offering 252 affordable housing units in Kissimmee. (Photo/Christine Pike)
While Osceola County has been working very hard to make housing affordable for the working class available, the story is much the same.
The county incentivizes a builder to construct new units and list them as “affordable housing”, government officials hold a grand ribbon-cutting announcement to herald their arrival … and the units fill up at a rapid pace, still leaving those whose incomes make it hard for them to secure a safe place to call home to continue making tough decisions.
On a basis of need and availability, it’s hard for the area to keep up.
Here’s some good news on that front: with little fanfare, Salix on Vine, the area’s newest complex touting affordability, has open on Old Vineland Road in Kissimmee.
Builder Lincoln Avenue Communities brought Salix on Vine the community of 252 pete-friendly units online in just the last month, and families have been moving in about a dozen at a time the last two weekends, said Lincoln Avenue’s Director of Portfolio Development, Braden Olson.
The two, three and fourbedroom units range from $1,370$1,576 per month—a figure that’s at 60% of the area median income—and include a resortstyle pool, community fitness room, clubhouse, playground, grilling area and community space, washers and dryers and fully-equipped kitchen.
“We offer market-rate amenities,” Olson said. “We’re in 33 states and look for areas where we can secure government partnerships where there is a housing shortage, and a disparity in income to housing.”
Salix on Vine is Lincoln Avenue’s second building in Central Florida. 52 At Park in Orlando saw 72 move-ins in two weeks when it opened a few weeks ago, and Salix on Vine has seen 35 move-ins over the last three weeks.
“We anticipate these will fill quick,” Olson said.
The local inventory of affordable housing will get another slight bump later sooner than later. Thrive Studios, a conversion of an old West U.S. 192 hotel into apartments, will hold its ribbon cutting on Friday, adding another 30 units. And Buen Vecino, a senior-living affordable complex built by the Osceola Council on Aging, is expected to open in Buenaventura Lakes later this year.
Information on how to apply to live at Osceola County's newest affordable housing complex can be found at https://thesalixonvine.com/
