Knights Inn motel in Bradenton could become affordable housing

MANATEE -- Imagine being able to rent a studio apartment in Manatee County that is completely furnished and includes water, electric and cable -- for $600 a month.

Harvey Vengroff, a wealthy Sarasota County businessman, wants to make that a reality. Vengroff has transformed several motels in Sarasota County into affordable housing, and he has his eyes set on redeveloping the Knights Inn, 2303 First St., Bradenton, as his next project.

"Some people were just born under a dark star and they really deserve a lot better," Vengroff said. "We make a difference one family at a time. We don't play God. We just try to help if it's in the cards."

After hearing how Vengroff was helping fill the need for affordable housing in Sarasota, Manatee County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino and Leslie Loveless, executive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, met with him to see about converting a Manatee motel.

"We need affordable housing desperately in Manatee County," DiSabatino said. "I was just so thrilled that he's picking up the ball and running with it. We just need more people like him who have the passion and dedication to make this all happen."

Commissioner Charles Smith, who represents the area that includes the apartment site, calls this a great opportunity for unincorporated Manatee County.

"This is something that I will certainly embrace," Smith said. "I think what he is doing is taking slum and doing something positive with it."

Apartments in the ballpark of $600 a month is something Manatee County desperately needs, Smith said.

"Any time we have a project like this, it is something that we need to push toward," he said.

Converting the Knights Inn

By the end of the year, Vengroff, along with a group of investors in Sarasota and Manatee counties, plans to purchase the Knights Inn, located near the intersection of U.S. 301 and U.S. 41, for $4.4 million.

"We will convert that to studio apartments for those people that need a roof over their head," Vengroff said.

Vengroff estimates renovations at the 220-room property will cost about $1.5 million to "make it more of a home than a hotel room." It will take about three years for the project to break even, he said.

"It's really a neat thing to make an investment that's a good quality investment as well as have a very good return on it," Vengroff said. Once the deal is complete, Vengroff plans on building two-bedroom apartment units on five additional acres of land adjacent to the motel.

"We try to move people or families from studios to one bedroom, two bedrooms and so on," Vengroff said.

Smith says it's hard to criticize such a plan.

"It's better than what it is now," he said, adding that he's talking to other people about affordable housing opportunities. "It would improve the quality of life and give someone the opportunity to move their life forward. I encourage what he is doing. These are the things that we need to look for."

In Sarasota County, Vengroff has successfully converted three motels into affordable housing and there is a three-month waiting list.

By June, Vengroff hopes to have tenants in the studio apartments in Manatee County. Leases will be month-to-month and it will be first come, first serve. A background check will be completed before someone can move in.

"When we fill the units with the studio apartments, our goal is to mentor those people," Vengroff said. "Sometimes they will start a business. Sometimes they will learn to get a job or how to get a better job."

Two managers will also be on the property full-time who also live there, ensuring the apartment complex is safe, Vengroff said.

"We put a fence around the entire property and make it a gated community," he said. "It creates a sense of community. It gives people a feeling of being safe and not hassled."

Doctors and nurses will come to the location to provide medical services such as blood tests and monitoring of hypertension once a month, Vengroff said.

"Obamacare is supposed to help poor people, but the deductible is so high that people can't go to the doctor," he said. "If you are only making $15,000 or $20,000 a year, it's a real big hit."

While he is providing affordable housing, Vengroff wants to help people get back on track. If a door doesn't open at 8 a.m., Vengroff said they will find out why the person isn't working.

"If they don't have a job, we will take them to places where there are help-wanted signs," he said. "If they don't want to work, we throw them out. It's not a charity. ...There's an awful lot of people who just need a break."

Cheri Coryea, the county's neighborhood services department director, noted that Manatee has few apartments in those price ranges.

"I think there a lot of people just in the workforce that need that," she said. "It's a great thing to add to that stock."

Coryea said Vengroff's concept leans more toward the supportive living concept.

"I think a supportive living arrangement is very interesting," she said. "I think he's probably got a positive situation going on there. He knows his clientele. He knows what people need. It's a positive thing that will work."

The location of the Knights Inn is also good, Coryea said.

"It is centrally located," she said. "There are probably jobs that people could have in and around the area."

Step in the right direction

While Vengroff's plan will not solve the affordable housing shortage in Manatee County, DiSabatino said she hopes other people will follow his lead.

Next month, DiSabatino plans to meet with several landlords on the issue.

"Hopefully, we will get more people on board and help the dire situation that we have," she said.

In terms of affordable housing, the unincorporated portions of Manatee are sorely lacking, Smith said.

"We are going to have to bite the bullet and be creative," he said. "We need people that are willing to build and develop in unincorporated Manatee County."

Smith said Manatee probably needs about 1,000 houses or other units of affordable housing.

"This is a start," Smith said. "The crisis we have in affordable housing is going to continue to increase."

Manatee County has a "tremendous shortage of affordable housing in the realm of rental and multifamily," Coryea agreed. "Anything that is new is probably going to be gobbled up."

Affordable housing comes in all shapes, sizes and forms, Coryea said.

"We don't have enough options for people," she said. "The more options, the more choices that Manatee County as an area can have, the better because it seems we are very limited as far as that type of housing."

Relating a story of someone working two jobs who has to live in a van, Smith called it heart-wrenching.

"We talk, we talk, we talk but nothing gets done," he said.

One of the things Manatee County has to do is put someone in charge of housing, Smith said.

"We need someone to make sure those things are happening," he said. "Manatee County has a responsibility to make sure we have affordable housing."

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

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Knights Inn motel in Bradenton could become affordable housing ."