Build-to-rent boom in Florida: The apartment alternative?

As housing costs continue to squeeze Florida families, a growing trend is offering renters an alternative to apartment living without the financial burden of homeownership: build-to-rent single-family communities.

These developments, where entire neighborhoods of single-family homes are constructed specifically for rental rather than sale, are expanding across Tampa Bay as traditional homeownership becomes increasingly out of reach for many residents.

"I think we fill a gap between the large apartment complexes and single-family ownership," Steve Oakes said.

Oakes is the Tampa development manager for NexMetro, a Phoenix-based company that has built 168 rental homes in their Tampa Bay community. The company's first local project in Pasco County's Odessa area leased up in just eight month