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Workforce Housing

Florida

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in Tallahassee

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josefk Whistle-Stop

josefk

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Lowkota11, I think that the idea of having more affordable housing out at Evening Rose would be great.....not only because of the fact that its affordable, but also b/c there is obviously an added bonus of having all of the promised amenities with the town center, etc. nearby. My only question is, based upon the latest marketing materials, etc., where could these additional units (99?) be placed, and wouldn't that pose a problem for the rest of the development plan out there? And with respect to the development plan, I agree that this project has a lot of potential (GG, I agree completely with your coach's definition of the term in this context), but I still don't quite understand how the developers plan on making the space issues work- 35 acres, with 22 set aside for the residential component, leaves 13 up front for everything else. Their website claims that:"The finished project will look like a revitalized retail village including a mix of fine and casual dining, coffee and breakfast establishments, financial institutions, boutique shops, a day spa, salon, and fitness center combined with a mix of additional small and medium office and retail amenities."

I don't think that any (much less all) of these types of businesses will be able to thrive on just the Evening Rose residents alone (with no other neighborhoods really within walking distance)- so if all the businesses are successful in drawing in other area residents, and during a nice Monday morning you have a bustling coffee shop, breakfast establishment, people working out at the fitness center, employees working in the small/medium offices, all the bank employees in early and patrons waiting to drop off deposits while the day spa and/or salon handles a few appointments, where are all of these other people (most of which probably don't live in Evening Rose) going to park?

Honestly, I'm not trying to shoot down the development- I love the concept and I hope it turns out great. I just think that they may have gotten a little over-ambitious with trying to pack so much into their village given the relatively small residential component (Southwood is obviously on a different scale, but they have the population out there + the state offices that should be able to support all of their town center amenities- I'm just not sure if the same can be said for Evening Rose).

Anyone, thoughts?

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stjoe Hamlet

stjoe

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josefk,

You are 100% correct. FYI, there are a few areas in town I believe that said they would have similar town centers as Southwood and ended up either cancelling them all together or delaying them I believe.

Even Southwood has taken a while. The economics of a towncenter type concept are difficult apparently. I LOVE the towncenter at Southwood and can't wait for it to expand, but it takes a lot of households to support one. I too doubt Evening will be able to do it....I hope they can.

FYI, there was an article in today's paper saying Evening Rose received a $1 Million PLUS grant from a workforce type housing trust fund in Tally to help bring lower cost housing. I believe they have set aside 10 such houses/townhomes for lower income families.

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josefk Whistle-Stop

josefk

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josefk,

You are 100% correct. FYI, there are a few areas in town I believe that said they would have similar town centers as Southwood and ended up either cancelling them all together or delaying them I believe.

Even Southwood has taken a while. The economics of a towncenter type concept are difficult apparently. I LOVE the towncenter at Southwood and can't wait for it to expand, but it takes a lot of households to support one. I too doubt Evening will be able to do it....I hope they can.

FYI, there was an article in today's paper saying Evening Rose received a $1 Million PLUS grant from a workforce type housing trust fund in Tally to help bring lower cost housing. I believe they have set aside 10 such houses/townhomes for lower income families.

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Lowkota11 Crossroads

Lowkota11

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Thought I would help some people out. Residents of Tallahassee seem to be confused and think that Evening Rose is getting funds but that is not true. Here is the article from the TD this weekend.

"First, K2 Urbancorp's Evening Rose Development did not receive $1.2 million in funding from the City of Tallahassee's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. We, in partnership with the City of Tallahassee, applied for a $5 million state grant, which required a local match of 15 percent to be eligible for the program. After months of hard work and preparation for what many considered to be an award-winning submittal, the project was not funded due to a technical snafu in the application. In this year's legislative secession, lawmakers corrected the flawed system administered by the Florida Housing Corporation and provided a proper cure period for applicants, so in the future, good projects with plans to provide affordable housing would be funded.

What we are doing at Evening Rose: Last year, K2 voluntarily agreed to test the City of Tallahassee's Inclusionary Housing Program. We did this in an effort to demonstrate to the development and building community that not only is the problem of affordable housing real, but that we must start taking action. While Evening Rose is a high-end, market rate community, with top schools, a walkable Town Center of restaurants, shops, offices and live/work units, it will also have an affordable housing component, so school teachers, nurses, and firefighters can live where they work. Ten percent of our phase one residential development, or 10 units, will be offered at under $200,000. In the Evening Rose Town Center, an additional 10 units will be offered in the future. The project has received no hard subsidies to date, and instead has had to benefit from expedited permitting, and accelerated processing of all development activities.

Change is coming: Developers and builders are taking note. Since K2 announced its strategy for a commitment to building mixed-income developments, other developers are beginning to get on board. Welaunee Plantation has hired an affordable housing consultant, and the large St. Joe project on the Southside is rumored to have a strong affordable housing component. The moral of the story is, once one guy shows it can work, the whole world will stand up and follow. Now, if we can only get Falls Chase on board."

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  • 4 weeks later...
Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Northwest Tallahassee Homes

Old Bainbridge Road

6.16.07

TallahasseeMall018.jpg

TallahasseeMall019.jpg

TallahasseeMall014.jpg

TallahasseeMall015.jpg

TallahasseeMall016.jpg

Welcome Home! :)

Here's a model community for moderately priced homes in Northwest Tallahassee. The neighborhood featured two basic styles of homes, all with a slight variation on the outside for a more unique look. The homes are 3 bedroom, 2.5 baths, with a two car garage, eat in kitchen, great room and split floor plans. The yards are modest, but big enough for a swing set for the kids in the back yard or maybe a family pet.

Located in a nice, peaceful neighborhood convienant to highways, stores, churches, and schools this location is prime for family living. For a two-income family, theis should be among the best value within Tallahassee proper to purchase. These homes range in price between $230,000 and $250,000. If I'm looking to move to Tallahassee soon, I would definately consider the Northwest, certainally a community off of Old Bainbridge road. I was pleasantly surprised at this discovery.

Please share your findings if you stumble upon something you think we might like to hear about.

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Aerobird Whistle-Stop

Aerobird

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Nice places! But it seems I have a disconnect from what the rest of the world considers "affordable housing". :unsure: I remember a few years ago seeing something that said Tampa considered "affordable housing" to be ~$175k condos. :shok: To me, "affordable housing" means $100k at most...

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Aerobird Whistle-Stop

Aerobird

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Well they weren't described as affordable, rather as moderately priced...for varying definitions of 'moderate', of course.

I'm not sure that Thomasville's any more affordable than Tallahassee is lately, based on what I'd seen in the real estate section of the T-ville paper awhile back...and of course you have the State Income Tax in GA, too. <_<

(BTW, a :offtopic: question: do people who work in FL but live in GA have to pay the GA income tax? I can't find a straight answer..)

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Lowkota11 Crossroads

Lowkota11

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These houses are not considered affordable. Like you stated earlier, they are moderately priced for the current housing market. Affordable Housing typically falls between $65-$95/sqft. It appears as though developers are starting to realize that there is a great need for affordable housing as well as workforce housing no matter where you live.

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Lowkota11 Crossroads

Lowkota11

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Lowkota11, I think that the idea of having more affordable housing out at Evening Rose would be great.....not only because of the fact that its affordable, but also b/c there is obviously an added bonus of having all of the promised amenities with the town center, etc. nearby. My only question is, based upon the latest marketing materials, etc., where could these additional units (99?) be placed, and wouldn't that pose a problem for the rest of the development plan out there? And with respect to the development plan, I agree that this project has a lot of potential (GG, I agree completely with your coach's definition of the term in this context), but I still don't quite understand how the developers plan on making the space issues work- 35 acres, with 22 set aside for the residential component, leaves 13 up front for everything else. Their website claims that:"The finished project will look like a revitalized retail village including a mix of fine and casual dining, coffee and breakfast establishments, financial institutions, boutique shops, a day spa, salon, and fitness center combined with a mix of additional small and medium office and retail amenities."

I don't think that any (much less all) of these types of businesses will be able to thrive on just the Evening Rose residents alone (with no other neighborhoods really within walking distance)- so if all the businesses are successful in drawing in other area residents, and during a nice Monday morning you have a bustling coffee shop, breakfast establishment, people working out at the fitness center, employees working in the small/medium offices, all the bank employees in early and patrons waiting to drop off deposits while the day spa and/or salon handles a few appointments, where are all of these other people (most of which probably don't live in Evening Rose) going to park?

Honestly, I'm not trying to shoot down the development- I love the concept and I hope it turns out great. I just think that they may have gotten a little over-ambitious with trying to pack so much into their village given the relatively small residential component (Southwood is obviously on a different scale, but they have the population out there + the state offices that should be able to support all of their town center amenities- I'm just not sure if the same can be said for Evening Rose).

Anyone, thoughts?

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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I feel the same way about Evening rose with regard to their plans for a commercial area. I'm not sure if the commercial component of the project is to make this community a self sustaining project, or if its something similar to what's seen at Bull Run where there is a major store with a residential community behind it.

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  • 1 month later...
browe Crossroads

browe

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I'm a builder/developer based in Tallahassee but building in Gadsden, Gulf, Bay, Walton, as well as Leon county. We are focusing on housing in the 130,000-175,000 market. We are getting ready to launch several communities in this price range. I have been trying to find land in Leon County even if it means taking less profit to build a similar product because . We participate in a program from Florida Housing called HOP where they cover 25% of the purchase price of the home. So if the unit sells for 160,000, the buyer has a 120,000 mortgage. It is the greatest assistance program in the entire country.

Someone mentioned affordable housing should be between $65-95/sq ft. That's fine but our building costs in Tallahassee are in the lower half of that range. What happens when you add the land and carrying costs to it? The lots need to be under $25,000 for this to work. The only way for this to work financially is to do a very large project so the banks see the necessary profits so they will lend the money.

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Glenn Hamlet

Glenn

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I'm a builder/developer based in Tallahassee but building in Gadsden, Gulf, Bay, Walton, as well as Leon county. We are focusing on housing in the 130,000-175,000 market. We are getting ready to launch several communities in this price range. I have been trying to find land in Leon County even if it means taking less profit to build a similar product because . We participate in a program from Florida Housing called HOP where they cover 25% of the purchase price of the home. So if the unit sells for 160,000, the buyer has a 120,000 mortgage. It is the greatest assistance program in the entire country.

Someone mentioned affordable housing should be between $65-95/sq ft. That's fine but our building costs in Tallahassee are in the lower half of that range. What happens when you add the land and carrying costs to it? The lots need to be under $25,000 for this to work. The only way for this to work financially is to do a very large project so the banks see the necessary profits so they will lend the money.

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browe Crossroads

browe

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Sounds like a great program! I wonder why other builders / developers haven't taken advantage of it?

And in the absence of our official greeter, Welcome to UP-Tallahassee, Browe! :yahoo: Please tell us more about you in the "Introduce Yourself" thread. Actually, we have several new users that should tell us a little more about yourselves in that thread. It helps to have a little insight on where your views might be coming from on the different topics.

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