Golden shovels hit the dirt where the city of Sarasota’s first affordable housing efforts will eventually stand.

Developers and city officials broke ground Wednesday at the New Trail affordable housing complex at 4644 N. Tamiami Trail. The complex, developed by Tampa-based Blue Sky Communities and Community Assisted and Supported Living Inc., will create 96 affordable units across a six-acre parcel.

The project will include one, two and three-bedroom apartments priced for incomes between $21,000 and $72,000. The complex will also construct a playground, business center and activity room across two buildings. Completion is predicted for 2025.

New Trail Plaza will accommodate families routinely cost-burdened by housing prices: a figure that’s growing locally and nationwide. A Harvard University study found that half of U.S. renters spend more than 30% of their annual income on rent and utilities, and Sarasota residents have reported that a lack of local affordable housing has threatened to price them out of the area.

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CASL CEO Scott Eller said he hopes New Trail Plaza’s affordable options — as well as after-school and extracurricular programs for kids sponsored by the complex — will ease this burden for families.

“This is going to be an amazing community with infrastructure, not just utilities,” Eller said. “The social support infrastructure that is so crucial.”

The groundbreaking comes as the city and county have jumpstarted affordable housing efforts, including newly approved zoning districts offering density bonuses in exchange for attainable housing and $40 million in county grant funding for affordable housing project proposals. The initiatives aim to promote workforce housing and revitalization of some of the county’s major corridors.

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Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert commended New Trail Plaza as a positive sign for Sarasota’s broader affordable housing landscape. The complex will provide much-needed accommodations for those staffing local businesses, she said.

“This is a great example of a public-private partnership to bring about what we want in our community, which is more affordable housing,” Alpert said. “We need people to work in our hospitals, our schools, our restaurants.”

The parcel in the North Trail area was originally in talks to become housing for artists until 2021, when the county sold the land to Blue CASL for $1.95 million. It underwent three submissions to the city’s Development Review Committee before receiving full signoff in December.

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New Trail Plaza’s $17.2 million construction price tag will utilize $4.2 million in American Rescue Plan funding as well as direct funding from Blue CASL.

Blue Sky President Shawn Wilson said the county contribution and the collaborative efforts between the developer and city staff represent a positive public-private partnership.

“Community development like this is all part of the fabric of a capitalistic society,” Wilson. “This is how a capitalistic society achieves its societal goals and cures its societal ills.”

Nearby residents of the Bayou Oaks neighborhood originally contested the development, lobbying instead for a park or the proposed artist living complex that was once in talks to occupy the land. But Bayou Oaks Neighborhood Association President Richard Harris said his organization extended its full support to New Trail Plaza after extensive meetings with the developer and city staff.

“This was, of course, not our first choice,” Harris said. “But here we are. In fact, this is a really good choice.”

Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New Trail Plaza affordable housing complex breaks ground