Bradenton parishioners to hear about affordable housing plan for church land
Parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Church have the opportunity to learn details Wednesday evening about a 96-unit affordable housing complex proposed for an adjacent parcel.
Under consideration are three garden-style walk-up buildings, a community center, access and parking behind the church at 3100 26th St. W.
Although the Diocese of Venice and church plans are preliminary, some neighbors have already made up their minds about the project. At least a half dozen homes had yard signs this week that read “say no to the apartment complex.”
Manatee County is short thousands of units of affordable housing for essential workers, such as law enforcement, teachers, and others who maintain and keep the community running.
Glen Gibellina, immediate past chair of the Manatee County Affordable Housing Committee, applauded the St. Joseph proposal.
“It has everything going for it. It’s not that far from downtown and it has ready bus access,” Gibellina said.
Affordable housing in Manatee County seems to get more out of reach for working families every month. In July, the median price of a an existing single-family house in Manatee County soared to a record of $430,000.
A study by the Urban Land Institute earlier this year ranked the Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port region among the 24 least affordable regions in the United States.
Gibellina took note of the red-hot real estate and home building market market.
“If you are going to change the zoning for the big developers you need to include an affordable housing component,” Gibellina said.
The development team with which the diocese has been working, Fort Myers-based National Development of America, will be present at Wednesday’s parish meeting to answer questions.
National Development has been involved in the development and management of affordable housing since its inception in the mid 1970s.
During Wednesday’s meeting, National Development will discuss their process for screening potential tenants, show renderings of previous projects, provide a timeline for permitting with Manatee County government, and future public meetings to discuss the project.
The effort to provide affordable housing is a nationwide problem. One example of a program to address the issue is Yes in God’s Back Yard, also known as YIGBY.
“As cities grapple with where and how to build more affordable housing, identifying land that could support new development has become a top priority. One option that offers a potential solution: expanding the ability of religious institutions to build housing on their land. Churches, as well as other faith-based organizations, often own under-utilized land and/or structures which could be used to expand the supply of affordable housing,” according to https://yigby.org/.
A spokesperson for the diocese said she had no other information to offer Tuesday on the affordable housing proposal.
The church was asking parishioners to contact the church office at 941-756-3732 or bolson@sjcfl.org in advance of the meeting to facilitate planning. The apartment proposal is posted on St. Joseph’s web page at https://www.sjcfl.org/.
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 2:35 PM.
