Waiting list surges for city-developed apartments in Fort Myers

Over 10,000 people are currently on a waiting list for a city-developed apartment in Fort Myers — a jarring number considering it’s more than 10% of the city’s total population of 92,000. 

That figure is also what drives Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers Executive Director Marcia Davis. The reasons the need has ballooned of late, Davis says, range from the obvious, such as Hurricane Ian displacement and massive rent increases in other buildings, to the more specific, like job loss. “Sometimes it feels like it’s just one thing after another,” says Davis, who has overseen the housing authority since late 2018.