ORANGE COUNTY — Orange County’s Board of County Commissioners (BCC) today approved $3 million of local Housing Trust Fund and federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to assist an affordable housing development that has encountered higher-than-expected construction costs.
The developer’s agreement approved by the BCC involves a 195-unit project called Southwick Commons planned for downtown Apopka. The total allocation amounts to $1 million from ARPA resources and $2 million from the County’s Housing Trust Fund, which was established in 2020.
The Housing Trust Fund is part of Orange County’s Housing-For-All initiative, which is intended to incentivize the construction and preservation of affordable and attainable housing, and is projected to produce or preserve at least 11,000 certified affordable units in Orange County by 2030. Southwick Commons was one of four projects approved for funding in the first year of the Trust Fund.
The County has set aside federal Act ARPA funds for affordable housing gap financing.
