The conversation everyone in the 772 keeps having — where are working families supposed to live? — just got a concrete proposal in Vero Beach.
Indian River Habitat for Humanity's Bethany Fortunato pitched county commissioners on building affordable workforce housing on a seven-acre, county-owned property at 1840 25th Street in Vero Beach. The location is the selling point: walkable to downtown, the county complex, Piper Aircraft, groceries and healthcare jobs — meaning residents wouldn't have to commute long distances just to afford a roof.
The target is households earning up to 80% of area median income — roughly $55,000 a year for a three-person household. That's the teachers, nurses' aides, restaurant managers and tradespeople who keep the county running but increasingly can't afford to live in it.
The math is stark. Fortunato told commissioners that market-rate rents in the area run $1,700 to $2,300 a month, pricing out a lot of working families. By contrast, residents in the proposed project could save somewhere between $7,200 and $10,800 a year, with financing leaning on special tax credits.
Employers feel it too. Fortunato said the affordable-housing shortage comes up again and again across employer, government, nonprofit and citizen conversations — with some businesses even worried about employee safety on long commutes home.
This is early. County Commission Chair Deryl Loar said staff would start talking with Vero Beach officials about the concept, since the city would need to be on board for anything to move forward. There's no unit count or timeline yet.
For the 772, it's worth tracking. The county owning the land is a real lever — and whether it's willing to put public property toward affordable housing will say a lot about how seriously local government takes the squeeze.