The Tallahassee City Commission voted last week to provide $575,000 in funding for affordable housing units in the Canopy development. Canopy is a new 500-acre mixed-use traditional neighborhood development.
The $575,000 will come from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and will be used to purchase and sell affordable units to eligible buyers on a revolving basis.
The Tallahassee Land Development Code provides for inclusionary housing in developments which meet certain criteria such as developments with more than 50 units and within certain census tracts.
The Canopy development is subject to the inclusionary housing ordinance and will provide 10% of the units within the development, for a total of 62 units.
The inclusionary housing ordinance is intended to provide working class families with affordable housing. Eligible households are those earning between 70 to 100 percent of median family income (adjusted for size) for the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The median family income for the Tallahassee metro area was $68,400 in 2017, according to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
The developer and city staff negotiated the terms of the proposed agreement for the Canopy development. The terms provide for 62 units, an average sales price of $186,224 and a maximum sales price of $224,000.
Also, the agreement calls for single-family owner occupied homes between 1,100 and 1,400 square feet.
The City Department of Community Housing and Human Services shall be solely responsible for the final determination of eligible households.
City staff and the developer also negotiated a program where the City will purchase unsold inclusionary units to hold as inventory for sale to eligible buyers.
The developer will construct and maintain an inventory of 3 model inclusionary units. If any model inclusionary unit remains unsold for 12 months after construction and issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the City will purchase the unit to hold as inventory.
When the City sells an inclusionary unit it holds in inventory, the sale proceeds will be returned to the revolving fund and may be used for the purchase of another inclusionary unit.
The City is not required to purchase or hold more than 3 inclusionary units at any one time.
City Requires Average Price of $186,224 for Canopy Development Affordable Housing added by Staff on
View all posts by Staff →
The housing is affordable based on the AREA MEDIAN INCOME (AMI). The AMI number is based on the Census Tract or the Precinct. The CPI Consumer Price index and the AMI figure the income level that is consider affordable. So the South Side and French Town neighborhoods would have a completely different figure. The 186+K is affordable for that Census/Precinct Track Not for 32304.And the obverse is true. The 32304 AMI would not be able to afford the 186K.or move to Welaunee.
How is this exactly supposed to be affordable housing? for the same price I can get an actual house not labeled affordable housing. I am missing what the perks to pay more for less is. Someone really needs to explain this in a better way as to how this is able to pass as affordable housing? I will take my first time home buying self else where unless there are perks to live some where labeled affordable housing while paying about the same for a regular house on the outs-carts of Tallahassee.
Government should never tell private developers what they have to build.
If anyone recalls, one big obama project was to force (I emphasise “force”) so-called “affordable housing” into attractive suburban developments. The goal being to prevent “white flight” to suburbs and thus avoid inner-city high crime and onerous tax rates, etc. So it appears that “Canopy” (odd, since there are no trees there, I have driven through it) is now another gillum-driven (as in “obama-driven”) victim of progressive policies and will suffer the same financial punishment that naturally follows. Once soured at first drive-through, the impression remains for buyers. Sad to say, the city’s forced imposition on such a promising project does not bode well for Canopy’s property values. The advertisements may wail away on the radio, but an experienced home buyer may well avoid it, especially with this forced inclusion of “affordable housing”. We all know what that means, as any of you have been to a big city can attest.
Whats import is the public interest. From a WFSU story quoting Gillum: “To me the only downside should there be one is to the individual who has the home and may wish to sell it after the 10 years expire, that they won’t get the benefit of the full market value of the home. I’m not concerned by that because I think the larger public value is of interest”
Gillum isnt concerned about things like full market value.
LIKE Bernie Sanders said—a government job for everyone—now we shall give subsidized housing to folks making $68400 a year—-and if they don”t sell we taxpayers are going to buy them for housing inventory ????Holy Moly, whose going to pay for all this give away crap ?
1100 sq ft is the size of a typical 2 bed bungalow $186K may be OK with 1 acre of land. But not for a 1/4 acre. Then you have to live under the annoying nazi HOA board members … Oh #ell to the NO. No great white way fancy schmancy north side hood would make up for your aggravation you are about to sign up for.
The COT is planning to keep these homes and use them for upper management perve fornication or whatever.
Guess who does the lobbying for Canopy? VancoreJones
Is the builder Persica?
$186,000 does not sound like ‘affordable’ housing to me…especially if a family is making $68,000 per year or less.
Add on: The mortgage, taxes and insurance monthly payment will be close to $1300 per month.
But isn’t that number($1300) close to what rent would be on a 3 bedroom(family size) apartment in Tallahassee? Rent will continue to rise – probably a lot faster than a mortgage(insurance and taxes).
Assuming the $186K goes with the 1100 sq ft house, and the $224K with the 1400 sq ft house the price per sq ft ranges from $160 to $169 per sq ft !!.. This is not affordable housing — It is higher end housing.. More back scratching going on?