Affordable Housing Unit Planned in Jacksonville, Aimed at Lower-Income Florida Mortgage Applicants

With average home prices are hovering around the $250,000 mark in St. Johns County, the average workers has trouble taking out a Florida mortgage in the area.

Fortunately, developer Charles Atkerson is preparing to start his second condominium development on State Road 16 with units starting in the mid-$100,000s. It’s one of a few affordable housing projects underway around Jacksonville.

The president of C. Atkerson Inc. closed on a 40-acre parcel on Inman Road. adjoining the Belz Outlet Mall, on Oct. 14 to build the complex based on his success with another mixed-use condominium project nearby. That project is still several months away from completion. but is nearly sold out.

“There is a distinct need,” Atkerson said. “Affordability in St. Johns is almost becoming unattainable.”

That’s why, after 20 years of specializing in horizontal subdivision development, Atkerson said he decided to shift the company’s focus toward building projects that teachers, police officers and other work force professionals could afford with a basic, non-exotic Florida mortgage loan.

In 2004, Atkerson Inc. acquired 75 acres on State Road 16 just south of the Belz Outlet Mall for $2.9 million and developed Old Town Villages, a mixed-use project that includes 276 condominiums tucked behind four acres of commercial space, three of which are slated to be the site of a 100-room Fairfield Marriott hotel.

Fifteen units are still available at Old Town Villages.

Atkerson Inc. Chief Operating Officer Serena Wakefield attributed the success of that project to its location and its price, which the developer was able to keep below the average cost of a home in St. Johns County because of the cost of the land and the company’s close relationship with general contractor Johnson, Graham, Malone Inc.

St. Johns County officials have been grappling with the issue of affordable Florida housing for years. In 2002, the Board of County Commissioners commissioned an affordable housing study that concluded that, of the 38,999 homeowners in the county in 2001, about 41.5 percent fell below the 80 percent median income threshold established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for affordable housing - and that by 2015 an additional 237,200 affordable housing units would be needed.

“The need for affordable and work force housing is very serious in St. Johns County,” said Tom Crawford, director of the county’s housing and community services division. “There’s certainly a segment of the population that could benefit from this.”

The study contained several recommendations to the county including creating an affordable housing incentive plan, removing or reducing government regulations and policies on affordable housing and creating an affordable housing zoning district.

Atkerson, of course, emphasized that those taking out Florida home loans for his projects would not be sacrificing quality for price.

“We don’t yield to compromise,” Atkerson said. “A 90-degree angle is a 90-degree angle whether it’s in a $150,000 condo or a house in Ponte Vedra.”