Sabal Park in Brandon will soon be home to a new affordable, garden-style apartment community. Blue Sky Communities broke ground on the Preserve at Sabal Park in February. The Preserve will be a six-building, three-story, garden-style housing community consisting of 48 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom units totaling approximately 138,912 sq. ft. All apartments will be equipped with a kitchen, bathroom(s) and storage closets. Amenities include a community building, playground, pool and free parking.
“The Sabal Park location has been awarded nine percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits,” said Blue Sky Communities’ President, Shawn Wilson. “It will use the proceeds of the sale of these credits, estimated at $20M, as the primary source of funding for its development.”
In addition, a bank loan of $5M from Citi Community Capital of $112K finances the development from Hillsborough County, $439K from the Hillsborough HFA and $1.25M from Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
Shawn Wilson and James Chadwick formed Blue Sky Communities in 2012. Since its formation, it has been awarded funding from Florida Housing Finance Corporation for 14 developments.
“We are very active in state and local housing coalitions as well,” Wilson said. “Blue Sky Communities is a developer of multifamily affordable housing using the Federal Housing Credits program. Blue Sky is also a leading advocate for helping nonprofit groups reach their affordable housing goals by developing state-of-the-art, environmentally sound, affordable housing units.”
Through partnerships, Blue Sky helps these groups by developing neighborhood assets that stakeholders can be proud of for decades.
“To date, Blue Sky has developed over 1,000 units of affordable housing units,” Wilson said. “Additionally, we have over 550 more units in the pipeline for 2018-2019. These communities include housing for the homeless and disabled Veterans. Blue Sky’s principles have lived in Florida for more than 50 years. Blue Sky understands the importance of development funding being spent locally for the benefit of local businesses and residents.”
Blue Sky will provide brand-new apartment homes with all modern conveniences as well as a large clubhouse and pool for less than $500 for some units; although, most units will be in the $800 range. This ensures that families have adequate disposable income to save or to spend at local establishments.”
Visit www.blueskycommunities.com.
