Manatee developer Pat Neal cites barriers in building affordable housing

MANATEE -- A prominent Manatee County developer calls it "impossible" to redevelop the county's urban core.

"The problem with infill is, of course, controlling the land," Pat Neal of Neal Communities said Tuesday. "You have to assemble land to really have enough land for any scalable builder to efficiently build affordable housing."

The acquisition of the land, coupled with the time it takes for government approvals, are two primary obstacles developers face when trying to redevelop the urban core of the county and build affordable housing, Neal told commissioners during their work session on "All Things Housing."

As the commission tackles the affordable and workforce housing issue in Manatee County, representatives from the private sector, including Neal, shared their experiences with building affordable housing here.

"It's not been a subject that people have talked about for the last 10 years, but it is going to become a serious topic again -- especially because the millennials are back in the market," said Neal, who has built some affordable housing. "They are coming back into the housing market and they are going to need a home. And we in the industry and those of you in government need to be involved."

The total cost of gov

ernment fees -- local and state -- can be around 16 percent on a home, Neal estimated.

"The greatest cost imposed by government on a builder is the cost of time," he said.

Free land, impact fee reduction, downpayment assistance and mortgage assistance are among the incentives that developers would look for when looking to build along the urban core, according to Neal.

"We need to have government help to acquire land," he said.

The conveyance of property to nonprofits would help, said Diana Shoemaker, executive director of Manatee County Habitat for Humanity.

"We are going to be able to continue to build efficiently and in a continuous fashion," she said. "We are going to make impacts, and we are going to make sustainable impacts."

While Habitat for Humanity is focused on building new homes, Shoemaker said they are also working on rehabilitations.

"We are very interested in rehabbing," she said. "We have been struggling to find the vacant property in a cost-effective way. ...The challenge is finding those properties affordable to us, and affordable to our families ultimately when they get in."

Commissioner Larry Bustle said many of the costs to build a home are passed down from the federal or state governments.

"If we are going to ever solve or even get close to solving the workforce housing matter, we are going to have to get some help from state and federal legislators," he said.

When looking at affordable housing, there needs to be variety, Commissioner Robin DiSabatino said.

"We need different types of housing for different stages in the market," she said. "It's not one size fits all, so we need a whole variety."

The county must have housing for their workers, Commissioner Betsy Benac noted.

"We need to figure out how can we keep our workforce housed," she said.

The commission will continue the housing discussion on May 17 when they talk about recommendations resulting from the "All Things Housing" workshops.

Affordable housing must be a focus, said Philip Brown, president of the United Way of Manatee County.

"We cannot create it fast enough," he said. "I think we are really behind the eight-ball."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Manatee developer Pat Neal cites barriers in building affordable housing ."