The appetite for rental homes on the Brighton Reservation appears to be quite healthy. The Seminole Tribe held a ribbon cutting Nov. 22, 2022, to usher in nine new rental homes on Rainbow Lane, about a quarter mile south of the water tower and near the Knots Landing homes.

“All have been rented and there is a waitlist [for future rentals],” Bryan Arledge, senior property manager for the Brighton and Fort Pierce reservations, said.

Of the nine homes, five are three-bedroom, two-bathroom, at 1,626 square feet; three are four-bedroom, two-bathroom, at 2,114 square feet; and one is a five-bedroom, three-bathroom, at 2,332 square feet.

While the Rainbow Lane home project is now complete, Arledge said a playground for the residents is in the works and should be completed by the summer.

“Each home will also have its own 12-by-12 foot chickee before spring,” he said.

Rainbow Lane is the latest in home options for tribal members who want to live on the reservation or move back to it.

In September 2022, the tribe held a ribbon cutting for the Flowing Well home development, located just northwest of the Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS).

Flowing Well consists of 40 rental homes that Arledge said have all been rented. On the homeowner side, Flowing Well has 30 1-acre home lots available for purchase. About half of those had already been purchased as of press time. Construction has not yet begun on the lots, although there are model homes on site for tribal members to tour.

The Flowing Well development will also have a playground with a bathroom in its rental community as well as two pavilions, Arledge said.

In the past several years, new homes have been built on the Brighton, Hollywood, Big Cypress, Immokalee and Lakeland reservations and Tribal Community Development officials say there are more to come.

The Brighton Reservation has other construction projects in the pipeline as well. A new hotel and casino is in the works, as well as a new Brighton Trading Post. In addition, ground was broken in May 2022 on new buildings that will house the PECS Immersion program, including a separate complex that will host a new Boys & Girls Club, library and community cultural center.

Tribal members interested in learning more about housing options can go to semtribe.com and click “Services” and “Housing Department.”