The Manatee County School Board is considering providing workforce housing for district employees.
The board discussed the potential project with an affordable housing developer during a public workshop on May 24.
Mark Vengroff, the managing partner of One Stop Housing, proposed building affordable apartments on district-owned land that would be dedicated for employees. Rents would be capped at 30 percent of their annual income.
He envisions building a mid-rise apartment complex with 132 unit on nearly five acres of district-owned land located at 2501 63rd Ave. E in Bradenton. School board members said that they don't plan to build a school or administrative building on that land in the future.
"I think the idea floating around was — we have this land, let's put it to use, solve a problem of being able to house not only our teachers, but staff," Vengroff said.
The high cost of rent and lagging wages for teachers has made it harder for school districts across Florida, including in Manatee County, to recruit and retain workers.
Read more: School districts across the Tampa Bay area continue to fill an ongoing bus driver shortage
During last month's workshop, there was hesitant optimism among Manatee County School Board members about the proposed housing development.
"The idea of being first is attractive, but it's also very scary...you're either going to be a huge success, or you could be a huge flop," school board member Cindy Spray said.
While board members agreed that employer-provided workforce housing could be a boon for attracting school district employees, they also raised concerns over liability, ownership structures and land use regulations.
"You don't want to be the landlord of your employees, right? That's never a good idea," school board attorney Stephen Dye said.
While the proposal is still in its initial stages, board members voiced a preference for structuring the deal as a public-private partnership.
In this case, the school district would donate the land for development, with specific use and sale restrictions, and the School District of Manatee County would not directly own or manage the rental property.
Unlike selling the property outright, which emerged as another popular option among the school board members, entering a partnership with the developer could allow for some revenue to return to the district.
The Manatee County School Board and Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation is currently surveying school district employees about the idea of providing workforce housing for employees.
More than 1,000 district employees have responded as of June 14. The proposed development has not yet been agreed to, but further discussion is expected at coming board meetings.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
