ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — It's a trend that continues to rise; rental prices are through the roof. That's especially the case in St. Johns County and the city of St. Augustine where many people working minimum wage jobs simply can't afford to live.
"There are so many people who are deeply stressed every month about paying that rent check and I don't know how they're making it through," said Shannon Nazworth, president and CEO of the nonprofit Ability Housing.
Ability Housing recently bought three parcels of land just two miles west of Downtown St. Augustine and plans to develop that land and build 92 affordable housing units.
"Both St. Johns County and the city of St. Augustine are very worried about their own workforces," said Nazworth. "They're commuting long distances and they're very worried about firemen and policemen and people working at the hospital, living too far away and choosing to change jobs to be closer to where they live."
Ability Housing's affordable housing community called 'The Villages of New Augustine,' hopes to help that problem by offering one, two and three bedroom apartments.
According to a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, someone working minimum wage would have to work 92 hours a week to afford a one bedroom apartment in St. Johns County. More information about the study and those figures can be found here.
Groundbreaking for The Villages of New Augustine will take place later this fall and the waitlist to sign up for the housing community, will likely open in 2025 but, Nazworth is proud to try and provide an affordable housing option for people who want to live and work in St. Augustine.
"It's really all of us who need to make sure we have enough housing that's affordable for everyone in our community," said Nazworth.
The Villages of New Augustine community will include 20 one bedroom apartments, 36 two bedroom apartments and 36 three bedroom apartments. Rental prices will be determined by each household's income. Nearly 80 percent of the apartments are available for residents earning 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI), as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). An additional 10 percent of the units will be set aside for households earning up to 50 percent AMI. And the remaining 10 percent of units, will be reserved for households earning up to 33 percent AMI.
