Downsizing Affordable Housing

"With some concrete and stucco, a little paint and some sweat, a young man plans to help families in Bradenton own a home, like he does already at age 23.

As president of a construction company, Chris Moskowitz's goal is to build homes families can afford. He does this with an idealistic attitude and expectation of building pride through first-time homeownership for the people who settle in the modest houses he builds.

"Are they perfect? No," Moskowitz said. "But would I live in them? Yes."

The catch for his latest project - squeezing a home on a lot smaller than city code allows, thus requiring a variance granted by the city's planning commission. Approval on Wednesday from the commission would allow Moskowitz to start building seven homes on a plot of land in east Bradenton. The houses would sell for $172,500 each, a price rarely seen on new construction in the area."