Naples City Council approves two residential blocks in a commercial building

NAPLES, Florida. Today, the city of Naples has taken an important step by approving two residential units in a commercial building.

According to the owner of the Hibiscus Center building George Vukobratovich in Naples, this concept could be the answer to the question of affordable housing.

Vukobratovic said that the building has 15 apartments, but only two of them will be turned into residential buildings.

The Naples City Council has approved the use of two residential units with a conditional purpose. The lease term must be at least one year and the owner must meet residential requirements.

Requirements such as parking, garbage collection and other building codes that the city says the building already complies with.

“Properly done mixed use makes it a vibrant and enjoyable place to live,” Vukobratovic said.

Former Naples County Commissioner Penny Taylor was the tenant of the building. for several years now.

“This is the beginning, this is the first,” Taylor said.

Taylor attended Wednesday’s meeting to show support for Vukobratovic’s plan.

She said that during her service in the county and the city, she did not see that this concept was implemented properly before Vukobratovich.

“You talk about it, talk a lot, but he did it,” she said.

Vukobratovic and his family have owned the building for about two years, but he has been managing it for over a decade.

According to him, due to the lack of affordable housing in Naples, he was looking for an opportunity to build several housing units.

“After the hurricane, out of necessity, I just had to do it,” he said.

A need that resonates in Southwest Florida.

“Hurricane Yan and what it has done to the community has exposed the lack of affordable housing in Collier County,” Taylor said.

Two apartments is just a dent in the housing crisis, but Vukobratovic said he has plans to build more housing in other buildings.

“I hope I can work with the City Council in other areas and other buildings and maybe work on that to make this concept more feasible elsewhere,” he said.

He said that with proper planning and taking into account the interests of society, this is possible.

“We have to look at what is convenient for the community. In other words, we can’t just put 300 apartments in a building, it just doesn’t work.” he said.

Vukobratović said the next step would be to obtain a renovation permit from the city to begin renovations inside the blocks.

He plans to have the units read within a couple of months.