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As Southwest Florida’s affordable housing crisis continues to worsen, some are striking out in new directions in hopes of finding answers to the complex problem.

Tristan Spinski / Daily News

Joey Davis, crew foreman for York Pre-Engineered Residences, tacks on a layer of insulation on a home under construction in Lehigh Acres.

The road less traveled contains some unlikely companions, including developers, education officials, employers and government planners.

All have something to offer in an arena where, so far, solutions have been hard to find.

Developers say they can build more affordable homes if Lee County adjusts its codes, allowing higher densities and fewer restrictions.

The Lee County School District is considering using some of its own land to build housing for new teachers.

Florida Gulf Coast University leaders say if a donor gives them about 50 acres, they would build affordable housing on the land for their staff.

But new ideas take time, and the problem continues to grow.

One developer who is producing results today by providing housing alternatives in Southwest Florida is Jim York.

York, owner of York Pre-Engineered Residences, is slowly introducing a different - and cheaper - concept in home-building to Lee and Collier counties.

In other parts of the country, pre-engineered homes are popular, but they are just starting to make their way south, York said.

With concrete foundations and stucco walls, the homes look and feel just like traditional houses, he said.

“People are seeing them and they can’t believe they are pre-engineered homes,” York said. “They can’t believe the quality.”

One difference is the homes are assembled in a factory and then shipped in pieces to the construction site, where they are put together on the foundation.

Another difference is the price. York’s homes range in size from 1,100 to 4,000 square feet and cost between $100,000 and $350,000, he said.

York can afford to sell the homes for less mainly because they can be built so quickly. A team of workers in an air-conditioned factory can build one of the homes in about seven days, York said.

If York ordered a house today, the Georgia manufacturer could deliver it in about three weeks.

Compare that to some builders who take months or even a year to complete a house, and York says it’s easy to see why his houses are cheaper.

“If a builder takes 12 months to build a house, they are paying interest on the land and the land appreciates,” he said. Those costs are passed along to the buyer.

Pre-engineered homes are also cheaper because manufacturers can buy supplies in bulk and get better prices on lumber, drywall, shingles and other materials.

So far, York has sold 13 pre-engineered homes in Lehigh Acres and has a list of about 20 people who are interested in putting a house on their vacant lot. He plans to build between 40 and 60 homes per year and expand into markets in Naples, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers.

York started out in Lehigh because the land is so much cheaper and he’s trying to keep the cost of the homes down.

“I can buy four or five lots up there for the price of one in Bonita,” York said. “Most of the people who are buying our homes are workers and people who live here, not snowbirds.”

While York has had some success offering an affordable alternative for the area’s work force, others working toward solutions are still in the early stages of what could be a years-long effort.

Lee County School Board members recently floated the idea of building homes for teachers on vacant property owned by the School District.

Maintenance crews for the district compiled an inventory of possible sites that are on school campuses and currently not in use, said Joe Donzelli, director of communications for the School District.

However, with the district predicting a need for three to five new schools per year for the next 10 years, any vacant land now may be needed for expansion later, Donzelli said.

“It’s a very delicate balancing act that we have to deal with if we want to build affordable housing on school property,” he said. “We may have space issues later on. Our priority will be, No. 1, land for schools.”

FGCU is also experiencing a space crunch, so if its leaders decide to build work force housing for their employees, someone will have to donate land for that purpose, said Susan Evans, the university’s spokeswoman.

“There’s lots of ideas out there, but until we have land for it, we can’t do anything about it,” Evans said.

Meanwhile, developers continue to participate in a Lee County study to determine how to bring more affordable housing to the area.

Tristan Spinski / Daily News

Jim York, owner of York Pre-Engineered Residences, is bringing a cheaper concept in home-building to Southwest Florida.

David Malt, of Malt Realty and Development, was invited to offer his insights during workshops for the study.

Sometimes the county’s environmental and density restrictions make it cost-prohibitive for developers to build affordable housing, Malt said.

Malt recently tried to build affordable housing on about 100 acres in North Fort Myers. Current density codes allow six units per acre on the property. However, environmental restrictions brought the allowable units down to about 200, he said.

Malt reduced the size of the lots and was able to squeeze 338 units on the property, but that still does not make it cost-effective, he said.

“We’re looking for some density relief or environmental relief in order to get the numbers we need,” he said.

In the past, county officials have not been willing to accommodate developers. However, as the county’s willingness to study the affordable housing issue shows, the climate may be changing.

Such change, though, is likely to mean little to developments like Malt’s that are already in the pipeline.

“You can’t afford to be sitting on land, waiting for the opportunity to take place that may be a year or two out,” Malt said. “I can’t afford to wait around for the county to change their rules.”