Commissioners hear CPACE financing presentation and CityWalk housing proposal; decide to defer final action

Bradford County commissioners spent significant time on Nov. 4 reviewing a commercial PACE (CPACE) financing program presented by the Florida Development Finance Corporation (FDFC) and hearing a developer’s CityWalk housing proposal that could make use of the program.

Ryan Marcus of FDFC explained the program’s mechanics: it is a voluntary commercial program that enables private capital to finance improvements with repayment secured by a special assessment on the property owner’s tax bill. Marcus said FDFC acts as assessment administrator, does not obligate the county to payments and seeks interlocal agreements with counties and, where applicable, tax collectors and property appraisers before assessments are placed on tax rolls.

Developer Dwight Hewitt described a prospective CityWalk project of for-rent-to-own townhomes and townhome-style units intended to attract young teachers, military and first responders. Hewitt said planned three-bedroom units would be offered at an initial rent-to-own price around $2,300 per month and that the project would be unsubsidized market-rate housing with a rent-to-own pathway; he described internal mechanisms (insurance program, first month only at move-in) to lower upfront costs for tenants.

Commissioners’ questions focused on statutory, administrative and practical details: which agency would appear on the tax bill, timing of the special assessment, whether assessments would remain on a parcel if units converted to residential ownership, litigation risk (FDFC said one Florida PACE agency is in litigation but FDFC is not that entity), and whether the tax collector and property appraiser had been consulted. City representatives were present and said they supported the project but expressed concern about not having been part of county-level funding discussions earlier.

After discussion, several commissioners recommended additional stakeholder meetings — including with the tax collector, property appraiser and city staff — and voted to defer final action to the board’s next meeting on Nov. 18 to allow the necessary interlocal and service-agreement conversations to occur. Presenters and staff said adopting a resolution could accelerate the timeline, but that interlocal and services agreements would still be required.