Key West voters Tuesday rejected public purchase of the Peary Court subdivision for $55 million.
Two referendum questions asking voters to authorize the purchase and issuing bonds for the purchase failed on Tuesday.
The 157-unit townhome neighborhood at the edge of Old Town was built by the Navy in the 1990s. Private developers bought it for $35 million in 2013.
City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley said Tuesday evening he was disappointed in the results. Weekley championed the purchase.
"I thought people were interested in preserving worker housing and I found out that maybe they aren't so concerned about worker housing as I am," he said.
Robert Gold was campaigning Tuesday morning for the WorkerHousingKW group, formed to support the purchase. He held a sign outside of the Old City Hall polling station.
Gold said Key West desperately needs affordable housing and is limited by state growth restrictions and its own geography.
"In some ways, this is like Manhattan on the Gulf Stream," he said.
Ed Burr of Key West wasn't convinced by the campaign to purchase the property. He said he voted against the measure Tuesday morning.
"Someone that buys the property for $35 million and then wants to sell it two years later for $55 million? Something's not right," he said.
Weekley said the PAC formed to support the purchase, WorkerHousingKW, will continue.
"This was our first shot at it and we weren't successful but there will be other opportunities on property the city owns," Weekley said. "But that's going to take three to five years if not longer."
