DELAND, Fla. – Construction is beginning on a long-awaited affordable housing project at the site of the old Putnam Hotel.
On Tuesday, leaders with DeLand and Volusia County will break ground on the New York Avenue Apartments at 225 W. New York Ave.
The project, managed by Blue Sky Communities, will provide 84 affordable housing units for income-eligible families.
Corry Brown is the operations manager for Volusia County Community Services and said the complex will address a need that only grew with damage from hurricanes in the past few years.
[WATCH: Developer looks to build affordable housing on old Hotel Putnam site in DeLand]
“We already had a need at the lower income levels, especially for affordable housing, then a hurricane comes in and destroys some of the housing, and not all of it could be repaired,” Brown said. “One of the strategies was to add new housing in order to replenish what was lost.”
Also included in the project plans are 13 units designated for people transitioning out of the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia, which is an organization that provides homeless services.
“The Neighborhood Center is our partner in this and they’re going to be helping the residents in those 13 permanent supportive housing units and be able to provide services onsite,” Brown said.
[WATCH: Demolition of Putnam Hotel begins in DeLand]
The project was supported in part by Volusia County’s Transoform386, which is a grant program that uses funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to rebuild disaster-impacted areas.
Gap funding was also approved by the county through HOME, HOME-ARP, and SHIP programs, all of which are grant-funded.
Some architectural details from the old Putnam Hotel will be incorporated into the new complex.
The Putnam Hotel was originally built in the 1920s and sat vacant for more than a decade before it was demolished in 2023.
Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.