Community celebrates Gainesville’s first affordable home in land trust program
Press release from City of Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Community leaders and guests were all smiles at today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of the first affordable home built as part of the City of Gainesville’s community land trust (CLT) partnership with Bright Community Trust.
The new single-family home on Southwest Second Street is the first of 10 houses to be constructed in Gainesville on vacant lots previously owned by the City. Bright will retain ownership of the lots while income-eligible homeowners purchase the houses with a long-term lease on the land.
“Two years after launching this partnership with Bright, we’re able to open the doors to the first house in the community land trust,” said Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward. “I’m thrilled to see the trust become a working part of our affordable housing plan and see this home in the Porter’s Community, which is so historically significant to Gainesville.”
The new 3-bedroom, 2-bath house, built by local affordable-housing developer Alachua Habitat for Humanity, is listed for sale.
“How thrilling for a homeowner to get the keys to this home right next to Depot Park and near good schools and medical care,” said Bright Community Trust President Frank Wells. “We are so excited to be welcoming a new neighbor here for the City of Gainesville.”
As part of its commitment to reducing the shortage of affordable housing in Gainesville, the City will ensure costs of the CLT homes remain permanently affordable. An affordability requirement in the housing agreement with Bright restricts current and future sales to income-qualified purchasers. It also requires owner occupancy of these homes.
Neighbors with household incomes no greater than 80 percent of the area median income – as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and adjusted for family size – may qualify to purchase a home. (In Gainesville, a family of four whose annual income does not exceed $76,250 may qualify; the income limit for a single applicant is $53,400.)
In addition, homebuyers may be eligible to receive up to $30,000 toward purchase of a new home in the CLT through the City’s Down Payment Assistance program.
CLTs are a new addition to the City’s comprehensive housing strategy to increase the supply of affordable housing through new construction. The first 10 homes in the trust are expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The city’s land-donation program began in 2022 with the transfer of 11 vacant lots to Alachua Habitat for Humanity for the construction of affordable, single-family homes.
Increasing affordable housing opportunities, and revitalizing eastside neighborhoods with expanded housing is a cornerstone of the City’s strategic plan.
This press release did not include two important pieces of data…the listing price and the address. Luckily the partial address (818) is visible in the photo….818 SW 2nd Street for $266,000…you can’t own the land either ($300/year land lease).
I’m sorry but I do not see how a nearly $300,000 home qualifies as an affordable house…without a large down payment we’re talking around $2,000/month payments. Did the city partner with someone to provide specialty financing or what?..Very vague and seems to be an election year PR stunt
https://www.redfin.com/FL/Gainesville/818-SW-2nd-St-32601/home/191330904
Once again the big joke at city hall is there is no such thing as as affordable housing in Gainesville. The joke is we call it afford-a-bullsh*t housing. With all the fees we charge to a contractor they just can’t build anything affordable in Gainesville. For example: tree mitigation fees, public work fees, thrash collection fees, concurrency fees, inspection fees, permit fees, water connection fees, sewer connection fees, electric connection fees, donuts in my mouth fees, road impact fees, right of way permit fees, under ground conduit inspection fees, sidewalk fees, school fees, these are just a few of the ways we make sure there is no such thing as affordable housing in Gainesville. The truth is it doesn’t really matter what we charge because we know the commoners we rule over keep voting us in.
When will you and Poeboy determine it can’t be sold and make it available to Jonboy at a steeply reduced rate? I hear he’s always looking for a sweet deal in local real estate.
Is $266,000 building cost or appraised value?
Last time I helped with a Habitat Home about 20 years ago, we were building 1100 to 1300 sq ft houses for about $43,000 cost.
This smells like the sweetheart deal given to AMJ several years ago.
I’m not sure how much it actually cost or what it appraised for but $266,000 is the listing price…that’s what the current owner is asking for.
Notice that in the foto the GNV mayor seems to be severely struggling with the deep concept of how to cut ceremonial ribbon.
Watchout you are right I was distracted because I was thinking about the donut buffet that was waiting on me.
This will be an interesting experiment. The home directly behind is valued at $160k smaller 3/1 built in the 80s on seems like much smaller lot. 1 home currently for sale in the area that seems comparable value somewhat. The depot park locale of this I would think is selling point. Vital then for this park not to turn into some of the others in the city. Of course down side is you won’t own land it’s on. Not sure how property taxes are figured as far as who pays what.
Be interesting to see how long it sits on market compared to other homes in $250-300k price point
Monthly mortgage around 1850 + a month, X 360 months is about $665,000.00. Don’t fall for it. Rent so you can move the heck out of gainesville asap.
Over a quarter of million dollars is what they think is affordable and no land ownership…
P
R
Sorry Gainesville this is not a numbers …fuzzy math
Thanks to the legalese, whoever “owns” the home is “owned” by the City.
Slavery hasn’t been abolished.
Way to go Democrats! What are the fascist conservative republican whack jobs doing about affordable housing? NOT A DAMN THING
Love the stupidity of idiots like Paulie! There is a conservative in Newberry building nicer homes for sale for PROFIT at a cheaper price PER SQFT without your govthug stupidity
! You leftists are useful idiots and the t(u)rds you vote for thank you!
It’s private homeownership, not section 8. They should also do it for single adults in efficiency unit condos, with restrictions and self-governance. So they unlearn Dem dependency.
It’s not “private ownership” in the traditional sense, they don’t ow the land and when it’s sold in the future it has to be “affordable”
Now, I’m well aware leftwing thugs enjoy changing the meaning of words to fit their stupidity but it’s not private ownership!
You should look up words before you use them. BTW, this is not what I consider ‘affordable housing’.
We’re not “whacking” off and laughing at the Democrats who believe what their rulers are telling them.
Lower the temperature liberal. You are acting very weird.
Government thugs prove every time they have a thought, they should simply disregard it like passing gas in the wind!
A quick search of new construction homes proves these idiots are incompetent degenerates! Both of these homes have significantly nicer finishes!
24383 SW 17th Ln, Newberry, FL 32669 is $5.00 LESS per sqft than COG’s house with no “land lease” stupidity!
15506 NW 134th Ter, Alachua, FL 32615 is $24.00 LESS per sqft!
No , I am not a realtor! I picked 2 homes for sale that were in different areas built by different builders, listed for sale via different real estate agencies for that reason!
Government thugs are useless degenerates that otherwise wouldn’t be worthy of a salary that would afford them the ability to buy their overpriced house on their leased lot!
Would I pay that price, in that neighborhood, for that house, and not own the land beneath it? Oh, hell no. Affordable? No.
How much additional tax revenue will these new homes produce for the city?
First 2 problems are the 2 people in the picture Chestnutttt and Poe. Always promising things for free. Instead of telling folks you have to work harder for your dreams to come true. Financing a home is one thing maintaining it is another. The family structure has to be reestablished. It seems every time a Habit Home is given to someone it is a single mother with multiple children. Of course, politicians can’t be honest and state the obvious problems.
“It seems every time a Habit Home is given to someone…”
Habitat does NOT GIVE homes to anyone. The owner is required to work several hundred hours helping build someone else’s home and then work another set number of hours on their own home. The home is then sold to the owner subject to a long term, albeit interest free, mortgage.
Have you ever seen the future owner at one of homes. Usually just wondering around. While all the work is being done. I wouldn’t comment unless I had witnessed it, several times. But I will admit at least not costing taxpayers.
Understood. I’ve witnessed the same.
But that is a function of site supervision and/or selection committee.
I’ve also seen a potential owner removed from the program for this reason.
Isn’t there an axiom in real estate that says : location, location, location? These houses, will be, as this one is, in Porter’s Quarters so who in their right mind would spend 366,000 dollars for a house in Porter’s Quarters and not even own the land?
Way to go G’ville! Taking stupid to ever new heights!
I suspect long range plans include the rebuilding, i.e. elimination, of the Porters neighborhood in the foreseeable future, just like what is happening to 5th Ave area now.
Roughly $2,000 per month to live in Porters Quarters? No thanks. Next???
The house is listed for $266,000 and the purchase wouldn’t own the land and have to pay steep gru bills as well as steep property taxes. How is that an affordable home for someone making $53k? My gf and I are looking for a home rn but that’s about $146,000 over or budget😂. We actually need an AFFORDABLE home.
Who is building these affordable houses. Is it DR Horton. They got a great track record. NOT!