Gimme safe shelter: a new development proves that houses can be hurricane resistant ... and affordable.(Brief article)

Building affordable homes in a hot real estate market seems difficult enough, but building them to withstand a Category 3 hurricane seems nutty and impossible. "It's a challenge," says Mount Dora, Fla.-based builder Kristin Beall. But she says it is possible.

To prove it, Beall is building a 59-unit development of small to midsize "Storm Safe Homes" that will be engineered to withstand 130-mile-per-hour winds. "After experiencing the [storms of 2004], I wanted to go one step further than the codes," she says.

Located 45 minutes from downtown Orlando in Eustis, Fla., the homes will range from 1,250 to 1,900 square feet and will start in the $150s (not …