Affordable housing crisis impacts Manatee’s school employees. District has a new idea

The Manatee County School Board is in talks with a developer to provide affordable housing for teachers and other school district staff who struggle to afford a place to live.

One Stop Housing wants to build 132 apartments on five acres of district-owned land at 2501 63rd Ave. E, Bradenton, next to the Professional Support Center. There are no plans to build a school there, district officials say.

The project would include two four-story buildings with a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The amenities would include a clubhouse, a workspace, a laundry room and a washer and dryer in one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Superintendent Jason Wysong said the district plans to survey teachers and staff to get a clearer picture of the demand for workforce housing.

Kevin Chapman, the district’s executive director of administration, said the survey will ask whether employees rent or own, how many bedrooms they have, what they pay for rent and what they think they should pay.

Mark Vengroff, managing partner for One Stop Housing, said the survey could influence the final shape of the apartments, which are expected to cost no more than 30% of a teacher’s monthly salary.

One Stop Housing is the developer behind Robin’s Apartments, near U.S. 301 and First Street West, where rent is $825 a month. Vengroff’s company recently broke ground on a new affordable housing project, The Nest at Robin’s, which will add another 182 workforce housing units in that area.

District leaders consider affordable housing complex

With over 6,000 employees, Manatee County Schools is the largest employer in the county. The starting salary for teachers is about $57,000 and teachers could expect to pay about $1,425 in monthly rent at an affordable housing complex.

Sharon Hillstrom, president and CEO of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation, said it’s time to do something about the ongoing housing problem in Manatee County.

“This is a can that’s been kicked down the road for the last 20-some years, so now we’re faced with this huge challenge of why can’t we do everything right now and it’s such a big elephant that we have to take small bites at a time,” Hillstrom said.

The idea of building workforce housing for teachers and staff has come up in other Florida districts. School Board Member Chad Choate III pointed out that district leaders in Miami-Dade County hope to turn some schools into workforce housing.

Workforce housing for Manatee school employees

“I think we will be at the front of what potentially could happen more and more throughout the state,” Choate said. “Unless you are going to pay teachers a starting salary of $70,000, these same apartments are going for $2,500, $3,000, it’s crazy for us to say, ‘Hey, we need bus drivers, we need paraprofessionals, we need teachers,’ and they can’t live in those.”

School Board Member Cindy Spray has mixed feelings about the project.

“The idea of being first is attractive, but it’s also very scary at the same time,” Spray said. “You’re either going to be a huge success or you’re going to be a huge flop.”

School Board Member Richard Tatem asked fellow district leaders to consider how the housing plan could affect employee morale and suggested a lottery system to determine which employees would live in workforce housing.

School Board Member Gina Messenger said the ultimate goal is to help teachers and staff put down roots in Manatee County.

“The whole point of this is that they can take that money and save it, become a homeowner in Manatee County, and be more stable, so they will stay in Manatee County,” Messenger said.

The school board has not made a final decision on whether to sell the property to One Stop Housing. Officials are expected to discuss the proposal at future public meetings.