The county would have to allow the developer to change an agreement to build rentals rather than owner-occupied homes.
A developer wants to put up an apartment complex on Bayshore Drive and rent out nearly half of its units as affordable housing.
The property, a vacant lot at the northeast corner of Bayshore and Thomasson drives, has been slated for affordable housing since 2005. But it has always been the county's plan for the East Naples site that the housing on it — either condominiums or single family homes — would be owned and not rented.
In a 2005 agreement with the owners of the property, called the Cirrus Pointe Planned Unit Development, the county gave developers permission to build more units than is typically allowed in exchange for keeping 44 of those condos or homes affordable.
But the property was never developed. Now more than a decade later, a new developer has offered to buy the land if county commissioners change the original agreement to allow the housing to be rented rather than owned.
There is a need here for more rentals, said Karen Bishop, who spoke on behalf of developer Vestcor Inc. to more than 20 neighbors Wednesday night.
"The site's been there since 2005," Bishop said. "I think what's needed is to give that flexibility to offer rentals."
If the sale goes through, Vestcor is tentatively planning to put up four buildings that are each three stories high, Bishop said.
The complex would offer a mix of one- to three-bedroom apartments. The size of the development wouldn't change from the original agreement. It would still build 108 total units, and 44 of those units would be designated for people who earn 40 to 60 percent of the area's median income. The rest could be rented at market rate.
The only change sought in the agreement is to allow for rentals.
County commissioners and housing officials — as well as the area's chamber of commerce, sheriff's office, school district and several of its largest employers — have all said that the county needs more affordable housing.
Rental vacancies in the county are practically nonexistent, typically at 1 to 2 percent, according to study this year from Urban Land Institute.
That has allowed management companies and owners of apartment complexes to raise rents by $100 to $200 a month every year for the last several years.
One in five households in the county is now spending more than half of their income on housing, the study found.
"I'm not sure what people think of when they hear 'low income,' " Bishop said. "These are bakers, surveyors, people like my kids, people who actually provide services here and need a place to live. This is something that's a plus, not a negative."
Nearby homeowners are skeptical, especially those who have lived on Bayshore Drive for decades.
The area has been a part of a community redevelopment agency for years, a special taxing district created to eliminate blight. The CRA has fought for years to eliminate problem areas, and some of the worst of those areas had been with rentals.
If the owners of the Cirrus Pointe land had come to the county in 2005 offering to build affordable rental units, rather than owned units, it never would have been approved, said Maurice Gutierrez, a member of the CRA's advisory board.
"The vision has always been ownership over rentals," Gutierrez said. "We've been down that road. We've had management companies that were enormous problems. If you're a longstanding resident and you see history start to repeat itself, it doesn't make you comfortable."
Apartments are never built to the same quality as owner-occupied homes, said Joe Adams, a longtime resident.
"This area is ripe for something different, something unique," Adams said. "I would just like to see it done right."
Developers will present their proposal to the county's planning commission Thursday. If approved there, the proposal will go before commissioners in September.