Housing

There is no housing shortage. Most of our building projects are directed toward new student housing. Student housing developments have virtually taken over Frenchtown, which was once a bustling and thriving black community. Now Economy Drugs is the last business standing. The City devoted little to re-invigorate and revitalize the area, and instead they supported student housing encroachment into Frenchtown. We need workforce housing, but the City follows the money. Why don’t we use our funding and grants for affordable rental housing instead – we could provide incentives for developers to build quality affordable rental units. We are told that most of the trust fund money must be spent on owner-occupied housing- if so, then staff needs to think outside of the box find funding sources that can used where it is really needed.

The City should work with groups such as the French Town Improvement Authority to provide needed affordable rental housing and needed services and assistance.

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No question about it, we do have a housing shortage. Housing is the No. 2 priority on the City’s Strategic Plan but No. 1 is having a range of housing. Not just affordable or very low income but also workforce housing – we need the range.

I knew that the Tallahassee Housing Authority (THA) Orange Avenue Apartments and South City should be in the City’s CRA but it took four years – fighting tooth and nail – but I persisted and now we have the beautiful THA Columbia Gardens that was made possible partly because of CRA seed funding. On the TLC Board I have encouraged a new multi-family development at the Northwood Mall site. I also serve on the City’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council. We meet jointly with the County and develop policies to improve access to affordable housing, e.g., community land trusts to lower land expenses, incentives to developers, such as the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, and redevelopment of old hotels like the one near Capital Circle and Apalachee Parkway. The City also sponsors Habitat for Humanity. Collectively, we are encouraging a whole range of housing with an emphasis on low-income options. The City Commission should continue to support the entire range of housing needs and on fulfilling the American Dream – home ownership.

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Statistics indicate that we do have a shortage of affordable housing for low and middle income residents. The County Commission has provided $3.7 million to Tallahassee Housing Authority to increase affordable housing, including for the revitalization of the Orange Avenue Apartments and rebuilding and expansion of the Springfield Apartments.

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David T. Hawkins did not respond to ATN interview requests.

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Well, I know we have projections for more growth and that means more housing needs and many people are saying we have a housing crisis now.  But in new housing developments, there are a good number of vacant houses.  So, I want us to be proactive about determining how much housing we need and effective in getting people into some new or existing housing.

Housing or the lack thereof affects all of us when you consider its holistic impact on things like traffic, property taxes, transportation costs, etc.  I feel we need to keep rural areas rural and urban urban.  The question is how to do that effectively.  That’s what the commission should be addressing with the community.

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There is no question that we have a housing shortage.  We have seen approximately 400 people in Leon County have to move to neighboring communities to find affordable housing. 

I think there is a governmental role to play in the regulatory environment.  We need to make it easier and less expensive for developers to build affordable housing.  Using existing publicly owned land is an opportunity for us to develop more affordable housing.  It’s going to take some creativity on the government’s part and partnerships with the development community and the private sector.  As we build jobs, we have to build houses to accommodate those jobs.  I would say that government’s most important role in this is to find a way to incentivize developers and decrease the regulatory environment of developers.

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