Residences at Emerald Villas opens in Pine Hills with federal and county support

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost and Mayor Jerry Demings joined developers Monday to mark the ribbon cutting for Residences at Emerald Villas in Pine Hills, a multi‑phase affordable housing redevelopment that officials said was built with federal and local funding.

"Housing has always been one of my top priorities because I believe that it's a fundamental human right especially in the richest country on the face of the earth," U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost said, noting the project was made possible in part by American Rescue Plan funding.

The development’s third and final phase — called the Residences at Emerald Villas — adds 90 mixed‑income family units set to serve households earning between 50% and 80% of area median income, officials said. Mayor Jerry Demings said the county supported the project through multiple programs. "Orange County has invested more than 18 million dollars in this transformational development," he said, and noted the county’s Housing Trust Fund and impact fee exemptions contributed to the project.

Officials described the work as a three‑phase effort. According to remarks at the ceremony, phase one rehabilitated the original site to 264 units, with 134 homes reserved for very‑low‑income families for 25 years; phase two added 96 units for seniors 55 and older; phase three adds the 90 family units announced Monday. Developer Tony Del Pozzo said the combined work now yields 450 affordable units across the completed phases.

Frost emphasized the link between rising rents and homelessness during his remarks. "Remember, for every $100 that the rent goes up in a community, homelessness goes up 9%," he said, using the statistic to underline the importance of building affordable housing.

Speakers credited the project to a public‑private partnership that included the developer group (Related Urban Development Group/Related Group), Orlando Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (ONIC), lenders including Bank of America Cedar Rapids, management firm TRG Management, and support from Orange County housing staff led by Mitchell Glass (county housing official referenced in remarks). Officials also cited Neighborhood Stabilization Program dollars and the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) as part of earlier phases’ financing.

At the ceremony, Tony Del Pozzo recounted the project’s origins after the 2010 economic downturn and the decision to reduce an original plan of 444 units to phased work that was feasible with available funding. "We reduced it to 264 units," Del Pozzo said, and later phases increased the total to the 450 units he described at the event.

Organizers invited attendees to tours and refreshments after the remarks and conducted two ribbon cuttings — one for attendees on site and another at the building’s front entrance. Mayor Demings said the county plans additional ribbon cuttings for other housing projects in the near future.

The ceremony highlighted the combination of federal, state and local funding used to rehabilitate a foreclosed property into affordable housing, but officials did not provide final unit move‑in dates or a full funding breakdown beyond the programs and figures cited at the event.