Across Sarasota and Manatee counties, we face an affordable housing crisis. A recent report examining affordable housing revealed around 42% of households in Sarasota County and 38% of households in Manatee County spend more than a third of their income on housing. Spending more than 30% of your net income on housing means that you cannot afford other necessities such as groceries, medical expenses, etc. According to the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit in Bradenton is $1,245. At this cost, the average renter is often priced out of the market.

Our community does not offer enough supply of affordable housing to meet the high influx of renters in the area. Because more people are relocating to Florida every year, the problem is worsening.

Pearl Homes, a local homebuilder, focuses on building multifamily rentals that are affordable and is striving to address this issue. Founded by Marshall Gobuty, this developer of Pearl Harbor created the award-winning LEED-Platinum Mirabella community in Bradenton. Their homes emphasize sustainability and energy efficiency. Utilizing solar power coupled with on-site battery storage technology, the “Pearl Home” drastically reduces energy consumption and traditional utility costs. As a net-zero home, it can generate more power than it consumes and is capable of sharing energy with other units within the community.

Gobuty chose the name because his homes possess a tough, outer shell with the beauty of a pearl nestled inside. With a model showroom located in Palmetto, the company has constructed a revolutionary product. U.S. Green Building Council named Pearl Homes’ model the world’s very first Leed Zero Energy residential home. Constructed with heavy-duty steel framing, the Pearl Home offers maximized durability, engineered to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The company is already projecting bringing more than 1,000 affordable units to Manatee County. Pearl Homes’ growth has been funded by private capital from bank lenders.

Recently, Pearl Homes successfully bid to develop 3.3 acres of city land along 14th Street in Bradenton to create 200 multifamily rentals. Rents will be targeted to meet workforce demographics based on U.S. Housing and Urban Development statistics. Pearl Homes is also bringing an affordable housing community to Ellenton, which will feature 720 units situated on 120 acres. The community will follow a new urbanism model, focusing on walk able, vibrant urban centers with complementary small businesses, such as coffee shops and daycares.

Gobuty believes that his building policies will influence future development. Gobuty said: “We have an opportunity to make a real difference in our backyard. We are working very hard to create modern, affordable communities for people to enjoy and live in, but also communities that are conscious of our impact and overall footprint on the environment.”

Providing sustainable, energy-efficient homes for our working class is a priority. A Harvard University study released in 2019 found that 38 million Americans are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. America has suffered from a decade-long construction drought. A housing shortage had driven up the cost of existing homes. Builders added about 1.2 million units last year. We need to build 250,000 more units to keep pace with population growth.

According to the Housing and Urban Development (2018):

• One in every 588 Americans is homeless

• Almost 200,000 Americans daily sleep on the street

• 18% are chronically homeless

• 7% are unaccompanied youth under 25

• 7% are veterans

As Gobuty explained, “This is our home. We need to start taking action toward solving the livability crisis but doing it sustainably and responsibly. We can do something really special here, something people only talk about but never get done. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, around 44% of homeless people were employed.”

Originally published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune