ORLANDO, Fla. – A blighted Orlando motel is being transformed and on Tuesday, Mayor Buddy Dyer and other city and housing leaders got a look inside.
The Palm Garden Apartments, now under construction, are located on West Colonial Drive and Westmoreland Drive. The property used to be the Ambassador Motel.
It’s a $15 million project, all in partnership with the developer One Stop Housing. The city of Orlando is also using part of a federal grant to help address housing and homelessness across the city.
“Yes, and I would definitely tell my nieces and nephews too. They looking for somewhere to stay now,” said resident Frances Rembert, who said she’s excited about the affordable housing units.
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Many residents said they hope to soon move into one of the 150 newly-renovated affordable housing units, which will be done over two phases.
“The Ambassador has been a target for the city of Orlando for a long time, so we got the right partner at the right time,” said Dyer.
“With this great partnership, we’ve been able to clean up the neighborhood, at least the problem here and provide some really great housing options that are affordable,” said Mark Vengroff with One Stop Housing.
The developer says a studio for example will go for as low as $750 including utilities. The city said more than 100 units are for people at or below 60% the area median income.
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The city of Orlando told News 6 that the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) median Income is established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development annually. Orlando’s AMI is currently $85,700 for a family of 4.
City housing leaders said the goal is to try and keep the rates affordable.
“There are safeguards that control how much the rent can rise and we try to do our best to keep it where it remains affordable,” said Oren Henry, Orlando Director of Housing Community Development
The city said 15 of the new units will go for about $461, but those units will be coordinated by the Homeless Services Network for homeless residents.
To apply online for a unit, head to onestophousing.com.
The new units in the first phase will open in February.
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