On the outside of a new Bradenton, Florida, workforce housing development, the words “Where roots grow deep and dreams rise high, Welcome to The Nest” greet residents and visitors.
That’s the simple but powerful message behind The Nest at Robin’s Apartments, which features 182 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments aimed at households earning up to 80% of the area median income. Rents start at around $1,170 a month, including utilities.
Eighty of the units are targeted for Manatee County first responders and employees of MCR Health, Manatee Memorial Hospital, local schools, and the city.
“The two big struggles that people find when they’re really strapped is housing and medical,” says developer Mark Vengroff, managing partner of One Stop Housing. He moved to Florida in 2018 to take over the business and fulfill the legacy of his late father, Harvey, a businessman who believed everyone who works deserves a clean and safe affordable home.
Beyond housing healthcare workers, the three-story development will foster resident well-being. Plans call for MCR Health to offer telehealth services to all residents at the development.
As more residents settle into The Nest, the partnership with MCR Health is expected to grow stronger, including having medical staff visit the community to provide services and gather baselines of the residents to monitor and improve their overall health, according to Vengroff.
Unlike many affordable housing developments, The Nest does not rely on federal low-income housing tax credits. Instead, the approximately $22 million development used financing from ServisFirst Bank and a gap loan from Manatee County. Several high-net-worth families also supported the project.
Vengroff shares that One Stop Housing leveraged its in-house construction company to keep costs low. He estimates The Nest came in almost 40% below market to build, allowing the company to pay it forward by keep rents low for the residents.
“We’re the licensed plumber, the licensed electrician, even the dumpsters are ours” Vengroff says. “We’re the general contractor. We’re the development firm. By building out all these verticals, we took out all the middlemen and have been able to get the costs down.”
One Stop Housing, which has roots going back nearly 40 years, has more than 4,000 units in its portfolio, almost all in Florida, with rents at 80% of the AMI. It has about another 1,100 units in the pipeline.