Thursday, November 12, 2026
Ekos Allegro, located on Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples, became the first senior affordable housing complex to be built in Collier County in approximately 20 years, opening in November 2024 and filling to capacity almost immediately.
Housing Alliance CEO and Executive Director Michael Puchalla plays an integral role in connecting the agencies and individuals involved in establishing more affordable housing options in Collier County as evidenced during the grand opening of Ekos Allegro senior affordable housing on November 4, 2024.
Community Foundation CEO Eileen Connolly-Keesler was able to come through to make the grand opening of Ekos Allegro senior affordable housing in East Naples possible when a bridge loan was needed to temporarily cover the $1.3 million costs of Collier County impact fees. This was the first loan of its kind and shows a change in community priority toward providing affordable housing solutions in the nonprofit sector as well.
This is the second in a series of articles outlining the affordable housing crisis and solutions in Collier County.
Collier County recently opened its first affordable senior housing development in approximately 20 years. This was a huge accomplishment for an area in crisis boasted Michael Puchalla, executive director and CEO of Collier County Housing Alliance, which launched in late March 2024.
Ekos Allegro in East Naples was fully rented almost immediately upon availability.
The demand is continuing to grow faster than the affordable developments, housing officials said.
“I think the fact this is on the agenda now is perhaps the most important thing we could be doing,” said Jaclynn Faffer, president and CEO of Baker Senior Center Naples. “For years we didn’t want to focus on this,” Faffer said.
Affordable housing, including all the ways it is defined, is now high on the agenda. There are incentives from city, county, state and federal levels of government to encourage developers as well as support from nonprofits.
There are few developers other than McDowell Housing Partners who have been able to make affordable housing work for them in Collier County, officials said.
Collier County remains an area in high demand for residential housing and developers have preferred to stay on the higher end of the market for larger profit margins.
“This is a challenge in paradise,” said Faffer. “Naples is a tale of two cities,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve peaked. I think the demand is going to be increasing,” she added. “It’s going to take time, money, creativity and some flexibility,” Faffer suggested.
The demand is what draws McDowell Housing Partners, the developer of the Ekos properties, said its founder and CEO W. Patrick McDowell. That high demand leads to low risk, he added.
“The hard part is putting it all together,” McDowell said.
Developer Incentives
Each affordable housing project utilizes different government finance incentives. Ekos at Creekside on Collier Boulevard, for example, will benefit from decreased zoning costs, bypassing public hearing requirements to allow for the multi-family residential units in the area otherwise zoned commercial and mobile home. This decrease in county fees is made possible by the Live Local Act, championed by Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples). Creekside also is to receive State Apartments Incentive Loan financing, another incentive made possible by the Live Local Act.
McDowell Housing Partners is also seeking funding from the $20 million that was collected from the 1-cent surtax approved by Collier County voters in 2018.
For Ekos Allegro, McDowell received a $1.3 million loan from the Collier Housing Impact Investment Fund. This provided a bridge loan while awaiting county impact fee loans.
The $1.3 million loan is the first loan of its kind from the new fund created by the Collier County Community Foundation. It was created about two years ago to incentivize development of more affordable housing units.
Four Ekos Projects
Affordable housing projects in Collier County but by McDowell include the future Ekos Creekside project, which is being developed near US 41 and 951; Ekos Harmony on Santa Barbara Boulevard just north of Davis Boulevard, which includes 82 workforce housing units on land owned by Collier County and leased to the developer at little to no cost for 99 years; Ekos Allegro, which opened in November and includes 160 units for seniors; Ekos Cadenza, which is nearing completion and is providing 160 housing units for people earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of median area income.
The Santa Barbara Boulevard property was owned previously by the Collier County School District but has been owned by the county government for 20 years.
The Ekos properties on Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples, including Allegro and Cadenza, cost between $45 million and $50 million each to construct 320 units total in the two five-story buildings on the site. Allegro was completed first and rented to capacity almost immediately upon availability. Cadenza is likely to do the same.
Golden Gate Golf Course Redevelopment
Meanwhile 252 units of affordable workforce housing plus 100-120 affordable senior housing units are being built at the site of the Golden Gate Golf Course, also along Collier Boulevard farther north near Golden Gate City. These are estimated to be complete in 2026 or 2027.
This summer, the Collier County Commission allocated $8.9 million for pre-development and construction costs and an additional $1.13 million to support impact fees for the project, known as Renaissance Hall at Old Course.
The funding for this project is part of the American Rescue Plan, which allocated $900 billion in relief funds for state and local governments. Collier County received $74.76 million from this fund.
The development is located on about 22 acres of the golf course property, which the county purchased for $29.1 million in 2019, with the stated goal of preventing overdevelopment, at the time.
Rent for the new apartments will be set at 80 to 120 percent AMI, which is $104,300 for a family of four, as of 2024. Expected rental prices will range from $872 for a one-bedroom unit to $2,414 for a three-bedroom unit
Rural Neighborhoods also secured $2 million from a U.S. HUD Community Project Grant and $1.5 million from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), this Florida state incentive was designed to serve low to moderate income families
Housing Hardships
Financial dynamics in a county where many people buy and rent property while earning their income from out of the area contribute to housing gaps for local workers and for Collier County residents who are looking to retire where they are. The 2022 Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Occupational Employment Statistics and Wages, which contributed to the 2024 housing report published by the Community Foundation, states the below challenging statistics, which housing officials estimate may actually be worsening with inflation and other economic dynamics, making it hard for the new affordable housing developments to keep pace:
50,000 households in Collier County spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
To make ends meet in Collier County, the required annual living wage income before taxes is $109,888 for a family of four vs. $66,127 in 2018.
35 percent of jobs in Collier County pay less than $35,000 per year.
58 percent of jobs in Collier County pay less than $45,000 a year.
The majority of Collier County workers earn wages that allow them to pay less than $1,125 per month toward housing.
Rent has increased by 50 percent in the past two years.
Median rent in Collier County is $2,230.
Market rent is $3,922.
The median home sales price in Collier County is $571,500.
Collier has a shortage of approximately 10,000 rental units.
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