DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — More and more families locally are feeling priced out of paradise. However, a project in Delray Beach is helping address part of the need for affordable housing options.
It's called Carver Square and it features 20 single-family homes along Southwest Third Street and Southwest Seventh Avenue.
The Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency started the project in 2005 by purchasing the lots and in a few months, some families will have a new place to call their own.
"I just learned this morning that this is my house right here," said Rose Newbold-Biffo, a future homeowner.
Newbold-Biffo will be one of the first to move in once complete.
"I'm like ecstatic to be a homeowner in the city that I grew up in," she added.
She admits the journey wasn't easy, but she said it's her faith that kept her going.
"And when I read, oh my God, I jumped up. I went, got my sister and I came and I rode all around the block and I was like, I don't
know which one is mine but they are telling me one is mine," Newbold-Biffo explained.
The neighborhood is being constructed by the Pulte Group and will include one- and two-story homes with impact windows, smart technology and appliances that come with a price tag well below the current market value.
"The same market-rate home that we would sale for $500,000 or $700,000 around South Florida, but here they are a part of a unique housing holiday project where the prices are between $156,000 and $308,000," said Brent Baker, division president at Pulte Group.
Currently, the average rent for a one-bedroom in Delray Beach is above $200,000 and the average home adds to a desperate need for affordability.
"We are in a situation where our housing crisis has just gone through the roof," said Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Delray Beach CRA Board Member
The goal is to create an opportunity for those who may feel priced out of home ownership.
"Not only are we providing an affordable home for a family today, but we are also providing an avenue to build wealth for them," said Ryan Boylston, a Delray Beach City commissioner and Community Redevelopment Agency Board Member.
As for a timeline for the project, the company said residents can expect to start moving in as early as September.