Collier County got the go-ahead to use Infrastructure Sales Surtax funds to purchase a 412-acre parcel in Immokalee for affordable workforce housing.
The Collier County Infrastructure Sales Surtax Committee voted 6-1, with committee member Ronald Kezeske opposing, on Sept. 12 to provide $5.95 million to pay part of the roughly $20.77 million the county will use to purchase the 2,247-acre Williams Reserve at Lake Trafford. Another $1.1 million for affordable housing will come from a dedicated county housing fund.
Kezeske opposed approving funds without a commitment or level of interest from a developer. “We’re being asked to speculate that there is going to be interest, that the numbers are going to work for a developer,” Kezeske said.
But Chairman James DeLony noted that affordable housing is eligible for numerous funding resources and strategies that aren’t accessible to a commercial developer. “There’s no question that we need this project desperately,” DeLony said.
Housing Policy & Economic Development Director Cormac Giblin assured the committee that if they take the land and the cost of entitlements out of the equation, it won’t be difficult to develop affordably.
“When we do go out for a [request for proposals] to find a development partner for this, they may decide that maybe a portion of it should be apartments, a portion of it should be single family, so it is an open book,” Giblin said. “Once we own it, we could almost develop it however our development partners would like.”
The Board of County Commissioners in May voted to acquire the property, just east of Lake Trafford and south of Lake Trafford Road, for the average of two appraisals after refusing to pay the $23 million selling price. The county plans to use the remainder for parks and recreation, transportation infrastructure, stormwater management, economic development and a possible co-location of the Immokalee Fire and Rescue District. Domestic Animal Services and the sheriff’s office are considering building there.
A total of 1,117 acres will be set aside as conservation land, preventing further development.
Commissioners identified 412 acres for workforce housing, with 168.2 acres of entitled land already moving forward as Williams Farm RPUD, whose conceptual plan was approved for 336 residential units. The remaining 243.8 acres for workforce housing is unentitled land, meaning it must go through various approvals for a residential development.
The land is currently zoned as an Agricultural Mobile Home Overlay District, which allows one unit per 5 acres. It’s now being used as agricultural land to grow fruits, vegetables and hay and raise cattle. It would be rezoned to Low Residential to allow up to four units per acre.
County voters approved the 1-cent infrastructure sales surtax referendum in 2018 to pay for authorized infrastructure projects, including $20 million for affordable housing. Collier gets 91.2% of the tax, while the rest is divided between cities of Naples, Marco Island and Everglades City. The tax ended Dec. 31, 2023, after collecting $520.9 million, plus $20.2 million in interest, and $11.64 remained for affordable housing before the Williams Reserve approval.
