Nonprofit to Build $22M Affordable Housing Project in Melbourne

MELBOURNE, FL—Miami-based Carrfour Supportive Housing, one of Florida’s largest nonprofit affordable housing developers, has teamed up with Steadytown, a Melbourne-based family foundation focused on community development, to develop Heritage Park at Crane Creek, a mixed-income housing development here. The $22 million project will have 108 units of supportive, affordable and workforce housing with specialized services for formerly homeless and low-income individuals and families.

Heritage Park at Crane Creek will include 56 permanent supportive units for formerly homeless residents and families earning between 35% and 60% of the area’s median income, with 22 of those units set aside for households with family members suffering from disabling conditions.

The community will also include 24 units designated as traditional affordable housing units available for low-income individuals and families earning at or below 60% of the AMI. The remaining 28 units will be reserved as workforce housing for residents earning at or below 80% of the AMI.

“Brevard County has an extensive need for both affordable and supportive housing,” Stephanie Berman, president and CEO of Carrfour Supportive Housing, tells GlobeSt.com. “In addition to competing for an already insufficient supply of affordable housing, homeless families – many of whom have disabling conditions – have to navigate additional barriers, such as stigma/discrimination, long histories of living on the streets, prior evictions, poor credit, criminal backgrounds, cumbersome application/screening procedures, and the inability to manage a housing search/leasing signing/move-in process without support.”

She notes that research shows that quality affordable housing combined with comprehensive supportive services is an effective model for keeping vulnerable homeless populations permanently housed and off the streets.”

With units ranging from one- to three-bedrooms, the 4-story apartment building will offer amenities including a community meeting space, a fitness center, a computer lab, and a library – all designed to encourage community building and social interaction among residents. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2020.

Carrfour will serve as the project’s developer, operator and service coordinator, while Steadytown – in collaboration with the Brevard Health Alliance – will facilitate on-site supportive services aimed at helping residents achieve wellness independence, including a full range of behavioral health and primary care services.

Brevard Health Alliance, Brevard County’s only federally qualified health center, also plans to open a new 1,100-square-foot on-site clinic for residents on the development’s ground floor. The new Heritage Park health clinic will be staffed with rotating medical doctors, nursing staff, a psychologist and psychiatrist. Providing these medical and behavioral health services at an on-site patient-centered clinic with flexible hours will eliminate transportation barriers and enhance coordination, continuity of care and compliance for Heritage Park residents.

The Florida Housing Data Clearing Housing reports that about 41,700 households in Brevard pay more than 50% of their income on housing, with approximately 30,700 of those households earning less than 50% of the area’s median income.

In the City of Melbourne, 5,335 households are housing cost burdened by more than 50% and 12,670 households reported at least one housing problem, such as incomplete kitchen/plumbing facilities, and more than one person living in a room. The United Way ALICE Report found that 34% of the households in Brevard cannot afford basic needs such as housing, childcare, food, healthcare and transportation.