Jacob Ogles
A funding proposal to provide attainable housing for Sarasota County teachers looks dead. And the lawmakers who supported it say a change of course by the organization backing the project is why.
The House initially included $950,000 for a funding proposal from the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, but the money never materialized in Senate offers. Now, the funding has been zeroed out by both chambers.
Sen. Joe Gruters and Rep. Fiona McFarland, both Sarasota Republicans, had put in funding requests for $1.9 million for the EduDwell Living proposal from the foundation. That was going to cover roughly 20% of the total $9.4 million project cost.
McFarland noted that the board for the Education Foundation of Sarasota County voted in May to end pursuit of a property on South Washington Street in Sarasota.
Foundation President and CEO Jennifer Vigne had previously lobbied lawmakers for the project. But she sent an email to lawmakers last month that said the property would instead be put up for sale.
“As we’ve worked to bring this vision to life, today’s realities — economic pressures, fluctuating political dynamics, and the responsibility to protect the long-term sustainability of our organization — have prompted us to reflect and recalibrate,” the email states.
Vigne in a Florida Politics op-ed previously wrote the project would “provide workforce housing for district employees while also placing those residents in close proximity to a program hub offering resources and services for students, families, community partners and teachers.”
The request to lawmakers laid out that this initial funding could cover the design and early development milestones for a “dynamic, multipurpose facility.” The new structure would serve as a new home for the Education Foundation, but would also house direct educational resources, services, and programming for students, teachers, families and community partners.
Most importantly, the plan included five stories of multifamily workforce housing, bringing online 80 housing units for teachers and education staff in the Sarasota area. The plan was one of several affordable housing proposals submitted to the Legislature this year. Affordable housing has been a particularly challenging problem in the Sarasota area.
Now, the Education Foundation plans to move many of its education services, including its LaunchPad4U 2.0 efforts, to a new space on Webber Street. That will open in November.
“Though our facility plans have shifted, our resolve remains strong to finding ways to expand physical and online access to our life readiness programs for students, educators and families at locations across our community in times and formats that work best for them,” Vigne’s letter reads.
The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce at a housing summit recently reported that rental units once priced under $2,500 had skyrocketed 396% since 2019, as units under $1,500 a month became increasingly scarce. The Chamber figures Sarasota County needs another 14,000 affordable units to come online by 2035.
The Education Foundation said the project would not only help with that problem but help keep the “A”-rated school district competitive when it comes to recruiting professional staff.
