Cape man works to bring affordable homes to...

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral affordable housing committee member is proposing to bring hurricane-resistant homes to the community that he says can withstand Category 5 storms without damage.

Take a look at the homes he has already built:

Tommy Senatore, who serves on Cape Coral's Affordable Housing Committee, has already built similar homes in North Fort Myers' Suncoast Estates and wants to expand the concept to Cape Coral.

"North Fort Myers seemed to be the best place to start," Senatore said.

The homes are designed specifically to survive severe weather events like the hurricanes Southwest Florida has experienced over the past three years.

"They're built to sustain and survive a category five hurricane because it's strapped from the top of the roof all the way down to the footings," Senatore said. "Our thought was we would never offer something to rent to somebody that we would not live in," Senatore said.

While the homes are available for rent at varying prices, Senatore's ultimate goal is making homeownership accessible to essential workers and middle-income families.

"New police officers, new fire people, new school teachers, people that are having regular jobs, that don't have massive incomes, they can't afford $300,000and $400,000 homes. But if we had something around $200,000, maybe they could do that as a starter home, build up equity, then sell it and move along," Senatore said.

The project aims to change perceptions about affordable housing while maintaining quality construction standards.

"Our passion was always to give housing that would be affordable for somebody, but not per se, the image of affordable housing," Senatore said.

For more information on the affordable housing, click here.

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