New apartments open for low-income seniors, waiting list forms

A new affordable apartment complex for Tampa-area seniors is 100 percent leased with a waiting list for new openings, says Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Director Paula Harvey.

Haley Park Apartments, a $14.5 million development that celebrated a grand opening in June, is an 80-unit complex just west of the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. The complex was financed with public and private funds and is managed by Wendover Housing Partners, a privately held real estate company. 

The apartments include many of the same amenities that market-priced apartment dwellers enjoy, but they are priced for very low- to low- and moderate-income residents, 55 and older.

First conceived by Wendover in 2012, Haley Park was intended to address the growing need for housing that low-income seniors can afford. The company’s Founder and President Jonathan L. Wolf points to a National Housing Conference study that said the number of Florida residents aged 65 and older will more than double by 2030.

“As the state’s aging population increases, there is an immediate need for cost-effective rental homes for seniors, especially in metro areas near hospitals and doctors’ offices,” Wolf says in a news release. “Haley Park will help address this rising need in Hillsborough County.”

Harvey says the need for affordable housing of all types is not going away.

“We still need more,” she tells 83 Degrees. “This only addresses part of the problem; it doesn’t solve it. We still have needs for affordable housing in every category from homeless to elderly, and everything in between.”

Wendover first came to Hillsborough County seeking funding for the project in 2012, Harvey says. At that time, the county was able to come up with $750,000 to buy the 4-acre parcel at 1503 E. 130th Avenue. Harvey says the county land-banked the property until more funding became available.

The Affordable Housing Department was able to put together a series of grants: $2.4 million from the federal Home Investment Partnership, $1.7 million from the State Housing Initiative Program (SHIP), and $1.1 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. 

Other financing partners were JPMorgan Chase and the Florida Community Loan Fund. RBC Capital Markets-Tax Credit Equity group was the low income housing tax credit syndicator.

“It wasn’t just our funding that was paying for construction,” Harvey says. “They got private financing and multi-family mortgage revenue bonds issued in December 2013. There was a whole host of financing that went together to build the project.”

Wendover broke ground in June 2015. Each of the one- and two-bedroom units comes equipped with a dishwasher, microwave, full-sized washer and dryer, ample storage areas and a monitored emergency call system.

Residents can enjoy a community center, a swimming pool and fitness center. Social, educational and recreational services are offered.

Haley Park’s monthly rents run from $605 to $720, much lower than average rates across Florida which range between $1,176 to $1,657, according to Wendover.

Harvey says her department monitored Wendover to make sure all federal and state regulations were followed, including minority participation in construction. The county will continue to monitor the apartments to make sure new residents meet income requirements.