New affordable housing project coming to Palmetto. See the plans
The Palmetto City Commission recently approved a plan to build affordable housing units near the downtown area.
Twenty single-family homes are included in the plans the commission approved on Monday. The Manatee County Habitat for Humanity project is situated on a nearly 2-acre lot along 11th Street W. next to Publix and the Palmetto Mobile Home Club.
“This model not only strengthens these individual families, it helps stabilize and grow the surrounding community,” Manatee County Habitat for Humanity President and CEO Bernie Quinn said at the Nov. 17 meeting. “The need for affordable housing in Palmetto could not be greater.”
Commissioners approved a comprehensive plan amendment, rezone and general development plan despite some concerns about parking, maintenance and safety.
Representatives with Manatee County Habitat for Humanity say they expect the design process to be completed through 2026 and construction to happen in 2027-2028.
Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing
Habitat for Humanity is planning to build 20 single-family, two-story homes at an affordable price for homebuyers. The townhomes will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms and be sold at the appraised value upon completion.
Representatives say they hope the project will help first responders, teachers, city workers and others achieve homeownership.
“There aren’t a lot of townhomes in that area,” said Steve Reinfeldt, the vice president of construction for Manatee County Habitat for Humanity. ”I think that, maybe, it will lend itself more to people like firefighters and the emergency medical-type personnel that are living and working close to that area.”
This project will be the first of its kind in the Palmetto area, and the first townhome-style project for the organization.
“That’s why this is a very exciting project for me,” Reinfeldt said. “And the location is right in the downtown Palmetto area, so it’s very close to shopping and other essential needs that the homeowners will have.”
Prospective residents will need to apply to be a part of the project, a process that includes income qualifications, work agreements and job stability. Similar projects have offered these new homeowners a zero interest, 30-year mortgage.
For Habitat for Humanity, it’s about more than providing an affordable home, it’s about setting homeowners up for success. This includes teaching homeowners about mortgages, homeowners associations and requiring 300 “partnership hours.”
The partnership hours include getting the new homeowners involved in building their homes, and potentially their neighbor’s home, as well as learning about maintenance.
“And then also to have that sense of pride to know that they put those hours into the home,” Micah-Simone Durrant, the organization’s marketing and communications director, said.
Aside from homeowners, Habitat for Humanity relies on volunteers to help build projects like this. About 60% of the labor for these projects comes from volunteers, according to Reinfeldt.
Reinfeldt and Durrant said there’s no estimate as to when the applications will open for the Palmetto project, but construction is anticipated to start in 2027 or 2028. From start to finish, Reinfeldt said these homes will take about three months to complete.
The organization is also working on a 27-home, energy-efficient neighborhood near Oneco in Bradenton, and applications for that neighborhood will open in February, according to Durrant.
Development team addresses commission concerns
The Palmetto City Commission approved the project’s development plan last week, along with a necessary rezone from commercial use and a comprehensive plan amendment.
Before commissioners agreed, though, some raised concerns about parking and safety.
Each of the 20 units will have a one-car garage with one tandem parking space, and the complex will have eight visitor spaces. But some commissioners worried that would not be enough, and that parking would accrue on nearby streets.
There were also concerns about safety, including management of the dead end roadway and lack of street lights. After the issues were discussed and worked out via assurances of HOA regulations and a “no on-street parking” stipulation, commissioners voted in favor of the project.
Commissioner Harold Smith agreed with the idea of this project to provide affordable housing for first responders and teachers.
“I think it’ll be a good thing, especially for our community,” Smith said. “I saw some of the stuff that you all did in Bradenton, so I think it’ll be great for our community.”
