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City Council approves Providence Place revised development agreement, with restrictions and 50-year deed covenant
Summary
Melbourne City Council unanimously approved a revised developer agreement to build Providence Place at 850 S. Apollo Blvd., a long-term affordable housing project with case management and mobile outreach by Daily Bread; the agreement includes deed restrictions, a $3 million reimbursement grant and limits on on-site public services.
Melbourne City Council on March xx approved a revised development agreement that moves Providence Place, a planned affordable-housing development, to 850 South Apollo Boulevard and ties a $3,000,000 city grant to a package of deed restrictions and service limits.
The agreement requires the project to provide long-term apartment units for low-, very-low- and extremely-low-income households for a minimum of 50 years, on-site case management and a resident-only dining and market area. The city and the applicant added language restricting any on-site soup kitchen, day-shelter or other public homeless shelter uses and set a deadline for closing the existing Daily Bread soup kitchen and day-shelter use at the Fee Avenue site.
City planners and Providence Place backers said the project is intended as permanent affordable housing with resident services. "This is a good and balanced agreement," said Keith Donald of SteadyTown, the nonprofit developer. Daily Bread's Jeffrey Neuse said his organization will refocus outreach to engage unsheltered people and connect eligible clients to housing: "We're ready to do it."
Council members and city attorneys worked through specific protections before the vote: the development agreement records deed restrictions on the Apollo site that prevent soup-kitchen and day-shelter operations there, requires on-site security, and limits mobile “basic needs” outreach so it is run at community partner sites and not within a half-mile radius of Providence Place more often than once per week at any location. The agreement also prioritizes applicants with Melbourne ties through the county’s coordinated-entry prioritization process, and ties city payment of the $3,000,000 grant to completion and certificate of occupancy; funds are disbursed on a reimbursement basis.
Public comment included supporters who described the proposal as a permanent solution and skeptics who raised concerns about mobile outreach, the adequacy of deed protections and whether Melbourne residents would be prioritized. The council voted unanimously to adopt the revised development agreement and authorize staff to finalize the funding and deed-restriction documents.
The council action ends the prior Sarno Road agreement and replaces it with the Apollo Boulevard agreement. City staff said the $3,000,000 designated in 2023 remains available and will be released only after project completion and verification. The agreement sets deadlines for permit submissions and a target certificate-of-occupancy date of Dec. 30, 2027; it also requires Daily Bread to end the Fee Avenue soup kitchen/day shelter within 60 days of the agreement’s effective date.
The next procedural steps are final contract execution and return of the deed restriction and funding agreement to council for administrative completion. Residents and business owners who spoke urged ongoing monitoring and cooperation among the nonprofit partners, the city and neighborhood stakeholders.
