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Hartford Winter Haven asks Winter Haven City for $350,000 match to build 13 attainable units
Summary
Hartford Winter Haven presented program outcomes and requested a one-time $350,000 match from the city to help finance a 13-unit attainable-housing project at 7th Street SW; commissioners asked for outcome-tracking data and agreed staff should draft a developer agreement to return for approval.
Brad Beatty, executive director of Hartford Winter Haven, told the City Commission the group has partnered with Winter Haven for seven years to help families facing homelessness and housing instability and described a new 13-unit townhome project on 7th Street SW intended to provide long-term transitional housing.
Beatty said the partnership has helped 981 individuals (reported as 359 adults and 622 children) through rehousing, hotel stays, rental vouchers and one-on-one case management. He provided project cost details: land acquisition $775,000; estimated per-unit construction approximately $150,000 (13 units ≈ $1,950,000) and a total project cost of about $2,725,000, and asked the commission for a one-time $350,000 match to county CDBG funds to complete the funding package. "we are here to seek a match from the city of $350,000," Beatty said.
Commissioners pressed for follow-up data about long-term employment and stability for families leaving the program; staff said Hartford is tracking benchmarks such as income, savings and housing sustainability and agreed to bring more detailed outcome metrics back to the commission on request. The city manager said staff can draft a developer's agreement that includes typical protections (a lien/clawback) and return it to the commission for review; commissioners signaled consensus to proceed to that next step.
Why it matters: the request would use one-time Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars and leverage an existing $350,000 county CDBG award to add 13 below-market units in a neighborhood the presenter said would serve many Winter Haven families. Commissioners emphasized the need to verify local residency priorities, document long-term outcomes and include contractual protections before releasing city funds.
