Sarasota affordable housing developer Harvey Vengroff died last week, but his efforts to continue constructing workforce housing will continue in the region, according to his family.

“We see a healthy future in Florida,” says Vengroff’s son Travis, who along with brother Mark will continue running One Stop Housing.

That doesn’t mean there’s not still some lingering tension between the company and the city of Sarasota over a 200-unit project aimed at providing housing affordable for professionals near Downtown Sarasota. For the moment, the company plans to move ahead with the first phase of that project. “We're in a good place with Sarasota but that changes on a daily basis,” Travis says.

City Manager Tom Barwin, though, has optimism everything will continue on smoothly. He had a lunch just a few weeks ago with Vengroff, not long before his death, and says there seemed to be an understanding, and that the first phase of the project could move forward even as the developer sought ways to ease county-level impact fees.

Barwin says it was especially important to Vengroff to continue the project as no potential buyer for the land had plans to keep certain community assets like Bob’s Train open. Barwin’s final lunch with Vengroff happened at that restaurant. “We talked for probably 90 minutes over coffee," Barwin says, "and I thought we came to an understanding how this project was going to proceed.”

Travis Vengroff notes that in the time it’s taken to get the Sarasota project up and running, the company got tapped to help draft new ordinances on affordable, single-room occupancy housing in Pasco, Washington. Travis now lives in Washington, where he oversees new projects in the Pacific Northwest, while brother Mark remains in Florida overseeing the company’s efforts here.

One Stop Housing also runs the 240 new units at Robin’s Apartments in Manatee County. The company also has plans for projects in Pinellas County, and maybe in Winter Park.

Travis says that during his father’s life, the businessman saw a need for affordable workforce housing. Vengroff, before getting into construction, ran a collection agency, and originally got into building housing so his own employees need not commute from North Port for a Sarasota job. “He tapped into a market so sorely lacking in the area,” Travis says.

The younger Vengroff did not sound optimistic about how much more work One Stop Housing might do in Sarasota as opposed to other communities. But Barwin says he had learned plenty about developing workforce housing from Vengroff and hopes the developer would say the same about his dialogue with the city.

It's something community leaders celebrated even at the times Vengroff fought about the best path forward. Jon Thaxton, Gulf Coast Community Foundation senior vice president for community investment, called Vengroff a friend and said he helped provide for striggling households. "You don’t have to like Harvey, but you have to respect his passion for very low-income affordable housing," Thaxton said. "He was in the housing business for the people, not the money. I will miss him."

Vengroff’s ashes will soon be scattered at sea, per his wishes, according to his family.