80 affordable homes for seniors break ground in Ridgecrest
The groundbreaking of 80 new affordable apartments for seniors at Heritage Oaks Friday marked a new chapter for the Ridgecrest community.
The apartments will replace 48 outdated public housing units with high quality 1- and 2-bedroom homes, the first phase of a broader project to transform the public housing development known as Rainbow Village into an expanded community of new affordable homes.
Pinellas County Commissioners joined the Pinellas County Housing Authority, Newstar Development, and leaders of the Greater Ridgecrest community to celebrate the start of construction for Heritage Oaks, located at 12455 130th Ave. N. in unincorporated Largo.
The full Rainbow Village Redevelopment Project will see the Housing Authority replace 200 units with 240 or more new affordable apartments for seniors, individual workers, and families.
The first phase, Heritage Oaks, will total around $31 million with financial support from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and $3.36 million from Pinellas County’s HOME, SHIP and CDBG funds.
All the new apartments at Heritage Oaks will be reserved for seniors who earn 60 percent or less of the area’s median income.
“Heritage Oaks is just the first phase of a much larger transformation here in the Greater Ridgecrest community,” said Pinellas County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters.
“In the coming years, Rainbow Village will be revitalized into hundreds of beautiful new apartments for seniors, individuals, and families. We don’t want to call what’s being built here housing; these will be homes that offer a stable, comfortable place for people to thrive in this community.”
“Affordable housing is a critical need in our community and the Pinellas County Housing Authority is determined to answer the call,” said Pinellas County Housing Authority Executive Director Neil Brickfield.
The redevelopment project is pivotal step in the Greater Ridgecrest Master Plan, a long-term collaboration between neighbors and Pinellas County Government to revitalize this unincorporated community in Largo with new parks and recreation, safer pedestrian paths and more affordable housing opportunities, among other improvements.
The project is the latest produced through the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact, a countywide partnership between the County and a coalition of cities that has helped thousands of individuals and families find a quality home they can afford in recent years. Local governments in the compact work together to promote consistent policies and programs and support projects that create more housing choices. Learn more at www.homesforpinellas.org.