When Chris Savino, vice president of Archway Partners, pivoted from retail to affordable housing, he redefined what “success” meant. “In retail you’re building to grow NOI [net operating income] and put money in your pocket,” he says. “With affordable housing, you’re really doing good for the community.”
Today, Savino and Archway Partners are applying that mindset to Willow Way Village, a 72-unit permanent supportive housing development under construction in Okaloosa County, Fla., between Pensacola and Destin. Half of the apartments are reserved for residents with mental or physical disabilities who can live independently but need ongoing support; the balance serves low-income renters. The project is being developed with Bridgeway Center, a behavioral health nonprofit that has served the region for nearly 60 years and operates shelters, detox and substance use services, and scattered-site permanent supportive housing.
A Nonprofit-Led Model
In Florida, the state’s supportive housing program is structured so nonprofits—not developers—take the lead, with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation directing funding and tax credits to behavioral health providers and other specialists, who then seek development partners. Bridgeway Center president and CEO Bonnie Barlow says her board selected Archway after an RFP process. “They were just very impressed that this is what they do and this is only what they do—build [affordable] housing,” she says.
Savino notes that the vetting went both ways. “When we responded to the RFP, we were interviewing them as much as they were us,” he says. “We wanted to make sure we liked the partner’s mission and thought they would be good people to work with—and they are.”
Resident-First Design
Willow Way Village is Archway’s first permanent supportive housing project, and Savino says it demanded a different level of scrutiny than a typical LIHTC deal. “In a typical building we do set aside units for audio/visual impairment and ADA compliance, but not to this extent,” he explains. “When you realize that half your resident population will have some type of handicap, you start to look at the design of the property in a different way.”
Beyond basic code requirements, the team rethought the site as a whole—adding two backup generators to keep the clubhouse and common areas lit during outages, widening and better connecting sidewalks to create clear routes between buildings and amenities, and, with guidance from Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) specialists, refining landscaping, parking lot lighting, and sight lines to enhance safety and visibility. “These recommendations can be costly on the front end,” Savino says, “but overall we’re making a much safer environment for the residents.”
From Shelter to Stability
For Bridgeway, Willow Way Village is the next step in a continuum of care that already includes emergency shelter and scattered-site housing. “At our shelter, we have 50 beds for men and 17 for women, and we are chronically full all the time,” Barlow says. “Half of these folks have jobs, another 25% get some type of disability check, but they just cannot afford the rent at fair market value.”
Willow Way Village’s one-bedroom and studio apartments are designed to change that trajectory. “For a lot of our folks, this will be the first time they have lived in any place they could be proud of,” Barlow says. The community will include a clubhouse, computer access, a small gym, on-site case managers, and property management staff. Barlow emphasizes that housing is the foundation that makes everything else possible: staying stable on medications, attending therapy, applying for jobs, and navigating increasingly digital public-benefits systems.
Wi-Fi as a Lifeline
Reliable internet and phone service have become critical infrastructure—which is where Cox Communities comes in. Savino notes that in many developments, choosing a cable or internet provider is almost an afterthought. “You just find who’s in the area and they’ll service the property,” he says. “That wasn’t the case here.”
When Archway explained the resident profile and the permanent supportive housing model, Cox Communities didn’t just quote a bulk-service agreement. “They said, ‘What if we assigned somebody to help the residents learn how to log on to their Wi-Fi and set up their apps and their cable?’” Savino recalls. Removing that friction of basic connectivity also lightens the load on case managers, who would otherwise field a steady stream of Wi-Fi and device questions on top of their clinical and housing responsibilities.
“To have a company say, ‘We’ll go above and beyond, we actually care about the residents here, and we’re going to dedicate somebody to help them—not just at move-in, but throughout the life of the development’—that’s really unheard of,” Savino says.
Partners who understand both resident needs and operational realities are essential to any modern multifamily community. To see how a dedicated connectivity partner can support your residents, staff, and long-term asset performance, explore what Cox Communities offers.