CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. - More than 25,000 residents in Citrus County live on a low income, and when it comes to housing, many are struggling to find an affordable place to live. Two developers are tackling the issue first-hand. 

Pamela Blatter is one of those living on a fixed income. Unable to find an affordable place to live down in Fort Myers, she moved north closer to family.

“I have a ex brother-in-law and my best friend lives up here,” she said. "She said, They are building a beautiful complex here, let’s go look.'"

She told Spectrum Bay News 9’s Katya Guillaume that she no longer has to worry about if she’ll be able to pay rent next month, something she used to question a lot in the past.

“I’ve struggled,” Blatter said. "In 2018, all I had was my social security and when I noticed that if I wanted to live comfortable or whatever, it was going to cost me $800-$900, well that won’t leave me much more left out of there.”

Inverness City Manager Eric Williams and other city leaders were present at the Colonnade Park ribbon cutting Tuesday afternoon. He said, “You’ve got a lot of homes here that are dated, that are affordable to some circumstance, but you don’t have that new, you don’t have that move in ready housing stock just readily available for folks in a certain income bracket.”

Mitch Rosenstein is the co-founder of Green Mills Group. He said his company focuses on closing that gap, this is actually their second property in the county.

“To be able to be a for-profit business where we get to provide a social benefit at the same time means the world to us,” Rosenstein said. 

Colonnade Park is a mixed-income property with 106 units.

Rosenstein said thanks to the push from county leaders and public and private financing, they were able to provide a place where people like blatter can comfortably call home.

Blatter finished by saying, “I was very grateful when I got in here because my sons always say Ma you’re happy, I say I am.”

The property was open to residents in November, and within two months, it was a full capacity. 

The county has the land to build more housing. That’s something the city manager says is already a topic of conversation.