One Stop Housing, after pivoting from renovating motels to new construction, is gearing up for rapid growth.
By Kelly Kirschner/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: March 18, 2026
Host: Mark Vengroff has become a household name for workforce housing in this area. Kelly Kirschner with Suncoast Searchlight brings us this profile.
Kelly Kirschner: A few years ago, Mark Vengroff, an affordable housing developer in Sarasota, tried to buy the Magic Castle Inn and Suites in Kissimmee, Florida.
The Magic Castle Inn & Suites in Kissimmee, featured in the 2017 film The Florida Project. Photo from Google Maps via Suncoast Searchlight
Famous for its role in the 2017 film “The Florida Project,” the motel has long served as a refuge for struggling families on the brink of homelessness.
It was exactly the type of property Vengroff’s family business had used for decades, converting old motels into affordable apartments.
But this deal never went through.
“We couldn’t make the numbers work,” Vengroff shared in an interview at his Sarasota office, where another former motel, University Row, is now an affordable apartment complex.
Mark Vengroff is CEO and managing partner of One Stop Housing, which specializes in affordable rental housing across the Suncoast region and beyond. Screenshot from a One Stop Housing YouTube video via Suncoast Searchlight
Today, Vengroff is moving away from the motel conversions that defined his late father Harvey Vengroff’s business and stepping into the complex world of new affordable construction. His company, One Stop Housing, has plans for rapid growth, aiming to build nearly 2,000 new affordable apartments from the ground up in the next few years alone.
Pursuing projects in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties, often backed by public subsidies and millions of dollars in philanthropic support, Vengroff intends to become one of the largest affordable housing developers in southwest Florida. This shift comes at a time when Florida is grappling with a severe shortage of affordable housing. Some of the key projects already in motion include The Nest, a 182-unit apartment complex in Bradenton just off of US 301 aimed at working families.
Renamed University Row, the converted Ramada Inn opened in 2007 and offers affordable efficiencies and one-bedroom apartments. Photo by Emily Le Coz via Suncoast Searchlight
But that is just the beginning. Vengroff is working on four other developments backed by nearly $33 million in federal hurricane relief funds awarded to him recently by the Sarasota County Commission. He has also submitted an unsolicited bid to build a workforce housing tower across the street from Sarasota City Hall in downtown Sarasota, with local foundations pledging $4.5 million to support his bid.
The switch from renovating motels to building from scratch has not been easy. In fact, Vengroff is stepping into an unfamiliar arena. The cost of buying and renovating old motels has skyrocketed in recent years, making their approach no longer viable. According to Vengroff, it now costs about $80,000 per hotel room to acquire and renovate, up from just $36,000 in the past.
Building new apartments is more expensive, but Vengroff believes it still can work. His key strategy: bringing construction in-house.
Six years ago, One Stop Housing purchased the Jo-Ga Corporation construction company, owned by Lakewood Ranch resident and licensed general contractor Gabor Sztuska. The firm was folded into the business as One Stop Housing Development & Construction LLC. Sztuska, who moved to the United States from Hungary decades ago, controls 40% ownership and serves as president of that arm of the organization, overseeing the construction of all projects, according to Mark Vengroff.
By keeping construction in-house, Vengroff says he can save as much as 40% on costs compared to his competitors. His company controls everything from bulk material purchases to equipment, cutting down on expenses.
The Nest is a 182-unit apartment complex in Bradenton aimed at working families. Photo courtesy of One Stop Housing via Suncoast Searchlight
While Vengroff’s new in-house construction team has already completed some projects, like The Nest in Bradenton, this shift into new construction will test his ability to scale quickly and keep costs low.
Suncoast Searchlight asked to speak with Sztuska for this story, but Mark Vengroff declined.
Vengroff has also worked hard to align his business with local political and philanthropic interests. Local governments, faced with a dire shortage of affordable housing, have turned to him for help. One Stop Housing was awarded nearly half of the $70 million in federal hurricane relief funding aimed at affordable housing development in Sarasota County following hurricanes of the past few years. Vengroff secured nearly $33 million to build 410 units for families earning at or below 80% of the area’s median income.
Mark Vengroff. Photo courtesy of Mark Vengroff via Suncoast Searchlight
The awards followed a county staff scoring process that ranked applications based on factors including the number of affordable units, the duration of affordability and overall cost-effectiveness, among others.
One Stop’s proposals ranked in the middle of the scoring matrix, yet the company secured nearly half of the available funding while several of the higher-scoring projects were not funded.
County commissioners did not mention the staff scoring during their deliberations as they voted in January to award the second portion of $30 million.
Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Neunder called Vengroff at the meeting “the gold standard” for affordable housing in the region.
As he approached the end of his life, Harvey Vengroff brought his two sons, Mark and Travis, deep into the fold of his expanding landlord enterprise. Screenshot from a One Stop Housing YouTube video via Suncoast Searchlight
The shift towards securing government funding marks a departure from the business philosophy of Vengroff’s late father Harvey, who avoided government entanglements. The elder Vengroff was infamous for having little patience for governments at all levels. A sign at the entrance of One Stop Housing’s main entrances today has a picture of the elder Vengroff smiling next to one of his favorite quotes: “I work hard because millions of people on welfare depend on me.”
This included avoiding government help to evict his tenants. A 2006 Sarasota Herald Tribune article highlighted the time Harvey Vengroff took his large Mastiff dog, Churchill, to evict tenants in north Sarasota at three in the morning.
But Mark Vengroff is willing to embrace public funding if it’s available to address the region’s housing crisis. The younger Vengroff explained, “I’m a lover. My father was a fighter. These dollars were coming into the community regardless. I wish it was a loan and not a grant.”
Another turn away from his father is becoming an active campaign contributor to local candidates.
Mark Vengroff has given donations to a myriad of elected officials, including, to name a few, $7,000 to former Sarasota Mayor Hagen Brody’s campaign for Sarasota County Commission in 2022, $9,000 to Eric Arroyo’s bid for Sarasota City Commission in 2024, and $3,000 to Kyle Battie’s Sarasota City Commission run that same year.
Mark Vengroff is bullish on the future of One Stop Housing. He’s actively recruiting investors and plans to raise $75 million to expand the company’s footprint. He’s also preparing for his succession with an eye on eventually passing the company to his staff.
Vengroff shared with Searchlight, “We won’t sell anything. These folks that work here would make a lot more money working somewhere else, but they chose here. This is their life and more than a career. I don’t have kids—these people deserve this more than anyone. We’re trying to find the opportunities for them to build wealth.”
This is Kelly Kirschner, reporting for Suncoast Searchlight. For the full article, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/mark-vengroff-affordable-housing-suncoast.
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