New affordable housing opens in downtown Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Orlando city leaders cut the ribbon, Friday, on new affordable housing in the heart of Downtown Orlando. 

The price for a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment at the new Amelia Court apartments ranges from $500 to $1,500 per month, depending on one’s income level.

It's the first building to open at Downtown Orlando’s new Creative Village Development. 

This is home to the new UCF and Valencia College downtown campuses, which are scheduled to open next month. 

Now, this influx of people have somewhere to live.

“We're focusing on the families that are going to be serving the Ace School, the new UCF and Valencia campuses, the people that are going to be working here,” said developer W. Scott Culp, with Atlantic Housing Partners.

Affordable housing is a big priority for city leaders. 

A recent report found that minimum wage workers in Orlando would have to work 85 hours a week to afford even the cheapest apartments. 

At Amelia Court, 80 percent of the units are affordable housing and the rest are market rate.

“Whatever your income level is, you ought to be able to have a home in Orlando," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who attended the ribbon-cutting.

Demand for the units is high. 

Managers say all of the units are already under lease and there's a waiting list with more than a hundred names already on it.