McDowell Housing Partners has moved forward on building an affordable housing community that will help meet the needs of military families and veterans.
The affordable housing development and investment firm reported securing key financing to develop the 120-unit Ekos at Warrington. Ten percent of the units will be home to extremely low-income (ELI) households at 40% of the area median income (AMI), and the rest will serve households up to 60% of the AMI.
Half of the units will be set aside for active-duty military members, veterans, and their families, and half of the ELI units will be reserved for veterans experiencing homelessness.
The development will be near the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, a large military installation that serves as the initial training base for U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers pursuing naval aviation and flight officer designations.
Ekos at Warrington will help fill the need for attainable housing around NAS Pensacola and other military installations across the state. Through the 2023 Live Local Act, the state Legislature allocated funding specifically for developments serving military bases.
The $41.9 million development was awarded $10.3 million in State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) and ELI funding from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. through RFA 2024-215, Live Local SAIL Financing for Developments Near Military Installations.
Additional financing also includes 4% low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. CREA is the tax credit investor, and R4 Capital is the construction and permanent lender.
Community services will be provided in partnership with Opening Doors Northwest Florida, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness across Northwest Florida.
The project team for Ekos at Warrington also includes Park & Eleazer Construction, Slocum Platts Architects as the architect of record, and co-developer Kim Do.