Prototype for migrant housing deemed too expensive

SAUNDRA AMRHEIN

With its stucco facade, tile floors, ceiling fans and the ability to withstand Category 4 hurricanes, the prototype for migrant housing unveiled last week in Balm seemed a vast improvement over cramped trailers some workers still use.

But as interest in worker housing grows among farmers, many complained that the model had a major flaw: It's too expensive.

Farmers in Florida and around the country are grappling with a labor shortage that is crippling their businesses.

Part of the problem, they say, is lack of affordable housing for its workers.

How the housing issue plays out will determine a lot about the future of the nation's agriculture industry.

The model home cost $100 per square foot, though officials overseeing its construction said the price would go down as units are mass-produced.

Unaffordable housing

Some local farmers said the expense was a lot more than many of them can afford to build for workers.

"The profit margin just isn't there" in farming to be able to afford it, said Billy Simmons of Simmons Farms, which grows strawberries and cantaloupes.

Plus, after farmers pay for water and sewer lines and find land for the homes, the costs could double.

The rent paid by seasonal workers wouldn't come close to covering the mortgage, even if the project were subsidized in part through government funds.

Also, many farmers said that with the way trends are moving in agriculture, they may be out of business long before the debt on the housing would be paid off.

"I thought this would be reasonable housing," Simmons said. By that he meant about $40 or $50 per square foot.

For now, rental trailers

Still, the need for worker housing persists. Recently, he has been buying used trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency at $10 a square foot for his workers to rent.

The two-bedroom, one-bath, 800-square-foot model home was touted as a possible solution to a growing and vexing problem in Florida's agriculture industry: housing for its workers.

Federal officials presented the model at the University of Florida's food and agricultural sciences site during the 2006 Florida Ag Expo.

A spate of devastating hurricanes the past few years has wreaked havoc on the industry, destroying thousands of farm workers' homes and contributing to a labor shortage.

The dearth of workers has been exacerbated by crackdowns on illegal immigration and an exodus by workers from farm to construction jobs.

Housing demand to rise

The problem has become so bad that the number of Florida farmers applying for guest worker visas for agricultural workers has almost doubled from 56 last year to 90 so far this year, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

But the more people that apply for the guest-worker visas, the more housing they'll need.

The visas come with a requirement that farmers provide housing for the workers.

The crisis has prompted a flurry of interest among farmers in housing as a means to entice workers back.

Officials with Insulated Component Structures of Florida Inc. said the model home was built with insulated panels with a polyurethane core that offers energy efficiency and resistance to mold and fire.

But another challenge to building houses for workers is resistance from neighbors.

Jay Sizemore of JaMar Produce had to pay lawyers to fight neighbors' challenges when he sought permits several years ago to build 72 concrete block rental homes.

If he had to do it all over again, he wouldn't, he said. Interest rates are now too high.

But the cost of not having the workers and watching a crop rot in the field is far greater.

"You have to factor that all in," he said.

Glimpse of the future

Some think the future might look a bit like the project recently put together by Catholic Charities Housing of Venice.

In October, they blessed 86 acres in Arcadia where 125 single-family homes and community amenities for farm workers will be built.

The $21-million project is being paid for with public and private funds, loans and grants.

Sister Cathy Buster said Catholic Charities Housing had to sell the first property it bought for the project after residents in the rural community launched a fight against it.

The project will be a great benefit to farmers, said Tony DiMare, vice president of DiMare Company, which has tomato growing and packing operations in Ruskin, South Florida and two other states.

These projects aren't feasible for one farmer to pull off alone, he said.

Despite the labor shortage, "we don't have adequate housing in volume and numbers to accommodate the people who are here," he said.