After tense exchanges, Rollins finally wins approval for faculty housing
In a first-of-its-kind agreement for Winter Park, the liberal arts college agreed to pay a fee equivalent to a portion of taxes it would be exempted from on the project
Aug. 29, 2024
By Beth Kassab
After nine months of hearings and revisions, Rollins College won approval for a project that will provide 30 apartments to early career faculty and staff who would otherwise likely find rents unaffordable near the lakefront campus in the heart Winter Park.
After tense exchanges between Commissioners Marty Sullivan and Todd Weaver and college officials, the commission voted to approve the project on Welbourne and Virginia avenues in a 4-1 vote. Only Weaver dissented.
During the meeting, the college agreed to increase its offer to pay a fee equivalent to a portion of ad valorem tax from 2 mills to 4.3 mills to satisfy Sullivan, who had sought an even higher amount.
As a nonprofit institution, the college is typically exempt from all all property taxes when the land is being used for an educational purpose, including housing students or staff.
Rollins President Grant Cornwell stood up to speak several times and acknowledged the novelty of the PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes offer and the precedent it could set.
“This is new for Rollins,” he said. “I’ve had other CEOs of nonprofits in Winter Park call me and there’s concern about this. We are prepared to negotiate a PILOT because that’s what this project needs to go forward.”
Sullivan wanted the college to pay more, though he was confused about the maximum number of mills, or dollars charged per $1,000 of assessed value, property owners pay in the city and county.
He also questioned if the college would really charge below market rents on the units. The college had already agreed to allow the city to verify the rents each year.
“What I find so perplexing about this request is that you don’t seem to understand the intent,” Cornwell told Sullivan. “We will never charge higher rents because our faculty and staff can’t afford it … if you want to see our rents annually, I think it’s a little strange, but that’s fine. We’ll send them to you personally.”
During the presentation, Rollins attorney Rebecca Wilson said the college anticipates charging between $1,700 to $2,000 per unit compared to average rents in Winter Park of $2,000 to $2,800.
Commissioner Todd Weaver argued with the college’s attorney over the number of units and the details of the stormwater plan. He also questioned whether Winter Park, where the median home price is more than $500,000 and median rents are $2,000, is really too expensive for faculty, noting some prices in his own neighborhood.
He also suggested the college initially applied to build more units than allowed so that its revised plan would appear more palatable.
“That’s simply not true, Commissioner,” Wilson said. “This is not a ploy.”
Weaver wondered if Valencia College, which has a building in Winter Park, and UCF offer faculty housing, seeming to suggest the Rollins arrangement is unusual.
“I don’t know,” Cornwell said. “Frankly, one of the things I’m proud of is we’re trying to make an intervention here that is not normal.”
Wilson reminded the commission that local governments are looking more to employers to help solve the regional affordable housing crisis, noting projects underway by Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World.
Commissioner Kris Cruzada said he appreciated Rollins’ commitment to the project and said he was bothered by the demands for the college to pay a higher fee when it’s typically exempt from taxes.
“The millage rate thing kind of bugs me,” he said. “It’s difficult to get affordable housing investors … It’s bothersome to me because they have really come forward from January to now to accommodate residents and our requirements.”
The private college, known for its lakefront Spanish-Mediterranean campus and tuition and fees totaling more than $76,000 a year, had resisted a PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes until this month.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said she was opposed to the original version of the project, but now supports it. At the start of the meeting, she noted that Rollins agreed to allow city staff to rent the units if they are ever unfilled by Rollins staff. City officials have also talked about how to make housing more affordable for emergency workers like police and utility staff near the city center.
DeCiccio also reminded fellow commissioners that if the city’s request to Orange County to expand its Community Redevelopment Agency is approved, the city will likely need to offer far more to private developers than Rollins is receiving in order to bring in more housing diversity.
“We are going to have to give a lot of incentives to get a developer to build workforce housing for all,” she said, including spending tens of millions of dollars on infrastructure projects. “Rollins isn’t asking for any of that from us. I wholeheartedly endorse it now.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
No one has a problem wth the intent of the project.
Yet a college generating excessive revenue like Rollins shouldn’t have the project’s general services subsidized by the other property tax payers throughout Winter Park. Why should a WP property taxpayer be forced to cover police/fire/garbage collection services for Rollins housing. They shouldn’t.
Rollins isn’t a church generating little to no revenue. The college just embarked upon a $80 million building campaign.
Sounds like a good thing to me. I’m sure those commissioners are troubled because their developer friends aren’t being rewarded. I trust no one in government but I do value Rollins and it’s ability to sustain itself and actually provide housing for its underpaid staff.
If the city and Rollins would pays their staff a living wage they could afford to pay rent and taxes. Why should the residents pay for the staffs taxes/services? Shell games….
I want to live in affordable housing in Winter Park also.
One more thought. Sounds like Rollins is looking to build their own little “company town,” with “affordable housing” for their underpaid employees, rents paid to Rollins, of course. I’m guessing we can look forward to a tax-exempt Rollins commissary for their staff soon. “Trader Tars’.”
It really should be this simple-sell a product or service you are “for profit” and you pay the same taxes as the rest of us. Simple means no need for thousands of page of tax code or asking for special favors from the government.
Two words; Housing allowances. No hoops to jump through. No code variances needed. No special favoritism to Rollins over any other applicant. Just allegiance to residents who do not want to see the return of higher density multi-family. Most of all, preservation of the character of the Hannibal Sq Neighborhood District rather than turn it into another annex to the Rollins campus.
A residential apartment complex, with a lawn – set back from the sidewalk – is out of place in that location and breaks the continuity of ground floor retail and office that spans from the former library to Hannibal Square.
Rather than activating this block with pedestrian streetscapes and features and retail / office to draw people from the Avenue, this represents a dead end where shoppers stop and turn around. Another self inflicted loss for Hannibal Square businesses.