ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A new affordable housing apartment complex opened in St. Augustine on Wednesday morning.
With a ribbon-cutting ceremony, St. Johns County officially opened the Victoria Crossing Apartments on Stephanie Lane, adjacent to County Road 207.
The complex has 96 units, and people must qualify to live there.
“This is the place I prayed for,” new tenant Rose Brown said.
Brown just moved into a three-bedroom apartment after almost being forced to move out of St. Augustine because she could no longer afford rent.
“It had actually gone up to like 1,400. To some people that’s still cheap but with me being a single grandmother, that still was expensive for me,” Brown said.
The average cost for a one-bedroom apartment in St. Augustine is close to $1,500 a month according to Rent.com.
The cost of rent at Victoria Crossing Apartments varies:
One-bedroom: $375 to $873
Two-bedroom: $440 to $1,038
Three-bedroom: $490 to $1,180
People earning $30,000 to $45,000 per year, which is 60% or less of the area median income, qualify to live at the complex.
St. Johns County Commissioner Roy Alaimo said the complex is helping to address the county’s ongoing affordability issues.
“We’ve recognized that the working class has been priced out of the market here in St. John’s County, and this is a great opportunity for us to provide some affordable housing to folks in our community,” Alaimo said.
Turnstone Development Corporation partnered with the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners to build it.
The Victoria Crossing Apartments is the latest affordable housing apartment complex in St. Augustine, one of the county’s fast-growing cities.
“It’s amazing how I’ve been here all my life pretty much and I look around the neighborhood I grew up in, I hardly know nobody,” Brown said. “I’m just grateful that I am able to stay here. This is my hometown.”
St. Johns County is in the process of adding more affordable housing units around this area. There’s no word yet on when the next project will be complete.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 20 units still available at Victoria Crossing Apartments.