Collier business leaders sound the alarm over county’s housing problems

COLLIER COUNTY, Florida. Business leaders in Collier County say the shortage of affordable housing for the workforce has reached crisis levels and is affecting nearly every industry.

“I think we are in crisis mode. And I think things are getting worse,” said Joe Trachtenberg, chairman of the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.

To find out the impact of the crisis in the county, Fox 4 Investigates spoke to local employers.

“We’ve raised pay rates and induction bonuses, but we’re still having a hard time attracting employees,” said Paul Hiltz, CEO of NCH Healthcare System, which employs about 4,800 people in Collier County.

Hiltz told Fox 4 Investigates that the medical company has increased its benefit package but is still having trouble attracting candidates.

“Affordable housing here is different from housing in other parts of the country,” Hiltz said. “We’re talking about helping people making six-figure salaries find affordable housing.”

Fine dining restaurateur Tony Ridgway says many of his employees work part-time to afford living close to the county.

“When you have fewer opportunities to hire good people because they can’t find a place to live, or you really lose good people because they choose to live elsewhere because they can’t afford what we have. This is becoming our biggest challenge,” said Ridgway, who employs 180 people in Collier County.

Both men spoke at a workforce housing forum hosted this week by the leadership of Greater Naples.

The sheriff’s office, the school district and other top employers have shared similar stories of trying to find employees because housing is too expensive.

“40% of our workforce lives outside of Collier County,” Hiltz said. “As driveways get longer and longer and traffic gets busier, it’s getting harder to keep these workers.”

Collier County has the highest per capita income in the state, according to the US Federal Reserve, at almost $118,000 per year.

But these numbers may be skewed by some of the highest paid.

Nearly 2/3 of jobs in Collier County pay less than $33,250 a year, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity.

The average rent for an apartment in Naples is $2,300 per month, according to RentCafe, a nationwide apartment sales service.

“We are approaching a dangerous situation, if we don’t have enough police on the street, we won’t have enough firefighters,” Trachtenberg said.

Trachtenberg says Collier County needs at least 10,000 to 15,000 additional housing units.

But now, according to Trachtenberg, developers have little incentive to build housing for the workforce.

“There are other places in Florida that are building housing for the workforce,” Trachtenberg said.

“It’s just a matter of economic feasibility for developers to come in here and do their job.”