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Apartment complex proposed for Sanford could provide affordable housing to homeless

SANFORD, Fla. — A proposed apartment complex intended to provide housing for the homeless in Sanford is being billed as the very first of its kind in Central Florida.

The project would use a piece of land that the city deemed a nuisance, meaning it had received a large number of calls for police.

The city wasn't initially sold on this proposal to transform it until it learned all the resources the project will offer the chronically homeless.

If all goes as planned by an Altamonte Springs developer, Warley Park will be built on an overgrown, vacant lot on Sanford's West 25th Street near South French Avenue.

The project will include 85 units of multifamily affordable housing for the homeless.

"This will not be a homeless shelter," said Joel Hunter, an advocate for the homeless. "This is much different."

Hunter, former chair of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, said offering resources and applicant screening sets the endeavor apart.

"These are resources provided in the complex itself, so they can get the training or the rehabilitation or the treatment that they need," he said.

Nikita Brown, who lives in the area, said she supports the project, because she said it hopes it will reduce crime in the area.

"If somebody's really serious about turning their life around, there should be options out there rather than everybody turning them down," she said. "(Police officers are) out every single night. We see the lights constantly."

The Homeless Services Network said 75 percent of Seminole County's chronically homeless live in Sanford.

The project was approved last week, but the city said it must still sign off on each stage of the building plan.

If that happens, the developer hopes to begin construction in December.