Published on August 18, 2026 at 4:37 pm
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In a county where residential development of any kind has not been met with much fanfare in recent years, Ability Housing just finished a project embraced by much of the West Augustine community.
The nonprofit developer of attainable housing took a moment Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the 92-unit Village of New Augustine, its first project in St. Johns County.
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The project started with the concept and location in 2018, but it took years to acquire the property, reach agreements with the city of St. Augustine and St. Johns County on utilities and infrastructure, and secure financing. And then construction took about 2½ years.
The affordable apartment community at 280 N. Volusia St. began with partnership between the West Augustine Historical Community Development Corp. and Ability Housing.
Village of New Augustine was designed to serve households unable to afford fair-market rent in one of the state’s fastest-growing counties. All units are available for individuals and families earning up to 60% of the area median income, with rents currently ranging from about $634 per month for a one-bedroom unit to $1,599 per month for a three-bedroom unit.
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It’s currently 30% to 40% leased.
“We hope this project will inspire further investment in affordable housing solutions because it’s a symbolic of what’s possible when the public, private and nonprofit sectors work together,” Ability CEO Reggie Fullwood said in a news release.
Funding for the $26.5 million project came from state, local and private sources. Florida Housing Finance Corp. provided $4.265 million in affordable housing loan financing and awarded $1.625 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which resulted in a $14.867 million equity investment from a nonprofit syndicator, National Equity Fund, with Bank of America providing the equity investment.
Bank of America also provided a construction loan of $14.22 million. Churchill Stateside Group provided the post-construction permanent financing with a $5.37 million mortgage.
St. Johns County approved a $460,000 Affordable Housing Grant and a $1.2 million award of American Rescue Plan funds. The county also made it possible to defer impact fees in 2022. Florida Housing Finance Corp. provided a $724,000 pre-development loan to the West Augustine Community Development Corp.
Bradley Construction Co. was the contractor. Group 4 Design Inc. was the architect, and the civil engineering firm was JBPro.
Recently, Ability has been busy in Jacksonville. It opened the $31 million, 90-unit Village at Cedar Hills in December 2025 and broke ground on the $46 million, 120-unit Villages at Lake Forest in April. It’s at the former site of Lake Forest Elementary School.
Q&A with Ability Housing
Fullwood, who took over as CEO of Ability in February, shared some thoughts about the organization’s impact with the Business Journal. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Affordable housing sometimes has a negative connotation. How important is it to show the community what you’re building?
A: That’s what today is about. We do these ribbon-cuttings because we want to open these properties to the community. You walk into units, you’ll see granite or stone countertops. You’ll see nice cabinets, wood cabinets. You’ll see durable, nice flooring, because that’s what we want to do is dispel the vision that people have when they see income-based housing.
I think our goal is always to dispel the myth or the perception of what affordable housing really is.
Q: What is the impact on the community when you (Ability Housing) come in and invest in new housing?
A: I think the impact is profound. One of the biggest challenges in St. Augustine is you have a ton of tourism downtown. Folks who work in the service industry, where do they live? Typically, they have to live pretty far out because of the affordability in downtown St. Augustine. Now this gives them an option. You can literally walk to work or bike to work right down the street.
Now people who work in St. Augustine have affordable options.
Q: The Village of New Augustine was a project that took years to develop — even before construction started. Is it hard to keep everyone patient and focused during a long process?
A: Yeah, especially for community folks who have invested their hearts in this work.
It takes a lot of patience to do these projects. That’s why as affordable housing developers, you have to have a pipeline, be constantly working on projects because it takes so long to get them across the finish line.
Q: Do you think this project might create more opportunities in St. Johns County?
A: We hope so. This was a great partnership. The city was very supportive. The county was very supportive. We had very little NIMBYism, like, “Hey, we don’t want that here.”
We want to do more of these projects in St. Augustine, in St. Johns County. We’re always looking for opportunities.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge for Ability? Acquiring land?
A: Yeah, it’s super expensive. It’s land and being able to find the right project. You have to find not only the right land but the right zoning. (You need) an area like this that welcomes the work that we’re doing. Not everybody welcomes that.
This story was published as part of the Northeast Florida News Collaborative.
