Thanks to legislation recognizing manufactured homes as affordable housing, new options are on the way.
Rexmere Village in Davie is planning to add up to 75 single family homes, with new four-bedroom homes priced at less than $200,000.
After legislative action recognizing manufactured housing as part of the state’s affordable housing strategy, an existing community in South Florida has taken steps to add more attainable housing, providing luxury not typical of the price points planned.
Rexmere filed an application in late May with the town of Davie to begin the project, named The Reserve at Rexmere. The luxury manufactured homes will be built on more than 18 acres adjacent to the south end of the existing community.
“We are proud to be home to so many families whose work forms the backbone of our community,” Rexmere Village owner Bonnie Dale said. “The leaders of Davie have been regional trailblazers in wisely expanding housing options. We look forward to working with them to provide more attainable housing which will add to the vibrance of the community we love.”
The new homes will target middle-income earners who, more increasingly, are being priced out of a competitive housing market, such as law enforcement officers, health care workers and teachers. The homes provide an opportunity for such workers to live closer to where they work.
“Hand-crafted, precision-built, energy efficient manufactured homes provide the amenities, quality and safety that families deserve,” Florida Manufactured Housing Association Executive Director Jim Ayotte said. “Rexmere Village provides an example of the critical role of high-quality, attractive, affordable housing ensuring the safety and economic vitality of communities throughout Florida.”
The original Rexmere Village has been providing a housing community with amenities such as playgrounds, a lake with a fishing dock, an oversized pool complex and clubhouse, fitness facilities, and a library for more than 50 years.
Just 32% of homes sold in Broward County in the fourth quarter of last year were considered affordable. That’s a drop from three years ago when 60% of homes met that threshold, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The expanded development is made possible through legislation passed this year championed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo. Her “Live Local” legislation included for the first time manufactured housing in the state’s affordable housing strategy by including such purchases in the state’s Hometown Heroes affordable housing program.
Following the bill’s passage, Passidomo said the legislation allowed Floridians to attain housing closer to the communities they serve by “shutting down affordable housing stereotypes and creating attainable housing options needed by the majority of our workforce.”
Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera sponsored the Live Local legislation (SB 102).