Officials ceremonially turned dirt on Wednesday morning, Feb. 18, for a Daytona Beach apartment building that will provide relief to seniors in need of housing.
The development, called Lakewood Senior Housing, also represents part of Volusia County government’s storm recovery efforts through the Transform386 program. The federally funded initiative, which focuses on recovery from hurricanes Ian and Milton, provided about $1.9 million toward the development.
Project officials and community leaders attended the groundbreaking on Wednesday, though the project has been under construction for several weeks. The building, which will be four stories, will be on Jimmy Ann Drive, south of LPGA Boulevard and west of Derbyshire Road.
The complex will provide 56 units for people ages 62 and older. The units will be an average of about 570 square feet and “will be fully equipped for mobility-impaired residents,” according to a community brochure.
Daytona Beach Zone 5 Commissioner Dannette Henry, who spoke at the event, said affordable housing was her main concern when she first ran for office about several years ago.
“So to see any affordable housing unit come to this particular zone is a happy-glad moment,” Henry said.
Henry said affordable housing provides broader benefits.
“When seniors have stable living, emergency rooms are visited less. Psychiatric issues are dealt with less. So affordable housing provides a stability that sometimes we take for granted and seniors don’t take for granted,” Henry said.
Deputy Volusia County Manager Suzanne Konchan said hurricanes Ian and Milton reduced the county’s stock of safe, affordable housing, especially for seniors on fixed incomes.
“Housing is a vital part of our long-term recovery efforts,” she said.
Affordable apartments in Daytona Beach could open in the summer of 2027
Lakewood Senior Housing could open as soon as the summer of 2027, said Daniel Acosta, president and chief development officer of the development firm, ACRUVA.
If the timeline goes according to plan, people will be able to apply to live there a few months ahead of time. The firm typically launches a marketing campaign to invite people to apply three or four months before a project gets a certificate of occupancy, Acosta said.
The rent will vary, and ACRUVA officials previously declined to give an estimate because the price could change in a year.
But the rent prices will follow guidelines: Nine units will be for extremely low-income households at or below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Twenty units will be for households at or below 60% AMI, and 27 units will be for households at or below 70% AMI.
Utilities won’t be included in the rent.
Amenities will include impact-resistant windows, ENERGY STAR appliances, a laundry room on each of the floor, a fitness area, conference space and a computer lab.
In all, the development is expected to cost about $20.3 million from a variety of sources, including city of Daytona Beach HOME funds.
― Eileen Zaffiro-Kean contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Lakewood Senior Housing in Daytona Beach expected to open in 2027
Reporting by Sheldon Gardner, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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