More North Florida Affordable Housing On the Way; Tallahassee to Contribute Funds

A new development that already will include affordable housing under the Tallahassee’s new inclusionary housing zoning ordinance may be able to provide more affordable units than planned - if a grant application passes muster with state officials next month.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, K2 Urbancorp and city officials are finishing a joint, public/private partnership application for a $5 million grant from the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Program. CWHIP was created by the 2006 Florida Legislature to address the workforce housing crisis.

• The Florida Legislature earmarked $50 million for the program.
• That money will be divided in $5 million grants to qualifying applicants in locations across the state. The grant program is being administered by Florida Housing Finance Corp.
• K2 Urbancorp is building Evening Rose, which will combine residential, office and commercial real estate development in a traditional, neighborhood setting.
• The city of Tallahassee is contributing $2.69 million toward the grant to meet the program’s requirement that local government kick in a 15-percent match of the total cost of the development.

With Florida mortgage costs skyrocketing in recent years and leaving many working-class professionals shut out of the market, the need for this kind of housing is greater than ever. City staffers have found sources for all but about $1.2 million of the required 15-percent match and should be able to locate the remaining money in time for a final review of the application before submitting it to the Florida Housing Finance Corp. on December 15.

To earn expedited permitting and other incentives offered in the city’s zoning ordinance, all of the 92 town-home units will be offered at reduced workforce housing prices. A two bedroom, two bath apartment that normally sells for $260,000 would be reduced to as low as $150,000, if K2 Urbancorp is awarded the grant.

Under the city ordinance, a developer of a subdivision of 50 or more units is required to offer 10 percent of the units at workforce-level prices no higher than $159,000. The mandatory requirement applies mostly in two zones in the city’s north and northeast quadrants.

Most importantly, the development is inside the city limits, where more middle-class workers in recent years are finding it difficult to find affordable homes. With the North Florida housing market starting to gain ground on the southern portion of the Sunshine State, this comes not a moment too soon.

Phase one of Evening Rose will include 74 detached single-family homes that start in the low $300,000s and 25 attached town homes that start in the mid $200,000s, and estate homes that start at $600,000. Ten of the phase-one town homes will be sold at prices matched for income-eligible buyers (people whose Florida mortgage loan payments would be a certain amount) as determined by the city. Phase-one homes are expected to be done by April.

The same formula will apply to buyers of the 92 attached town homes in phase two. Families with annual incomes up to $75,000 can qualify for the work-force units, Wamsley said. In phase two, 46 of the 92 town homes will be reserved for income-eligible essential workforce personnel. The 46 town homes left over will be reserved for local workers who can meet the income requirements as set by the city.