TAMPA, FL - As if Florida's lack of affordable housing or its third-in-the-nation ranking in foreclosures wasn't enough, its affordable housing crisis is about to get worse. At the moment, Florida is home to over 276,000 units of federal and state subsidized multifamily rental housing units that provide housing to thousands of low, very low and extremely low-income families, the elderly, persons with disabilities and farm workers. But according to a 2006 study by the Florida Affordable Housing Study Commission, a projected 45,000 of these units are at potential risk of being lost by the year 2015. Unfortunately the study's findings and the warning they contained has fallen on deaf ears.
Last year the Florida House did try to address this problem and passed a proposal to establish a leveraged public/private pool of capital to try to preserve these units. The proposal was intended to prevent their conversion to the open real estate market where rents would be raised or properties torn down to make way for condos and other more profitable uses. Unfortunately the Senate declined to act on the bill, although it was supported by a large coalition of advocates, community groups, the Florida Community Loan Fund, the Florida Housing Coalition, Florida Catholic Conference, and 57 members of the Florida Alliance of Community Development Corporations - as well as five major banks pledging to provide a $100 million to match a small $25 million, one-time state appropriation.
This year the proposal has been introduced again in the Senate and an even larger coalition has gathered involving groups as diverse as Florida banks, Florida legal service attorneys, coalitions for the homeless and local cities and housing finance authorities in parts of the state where the potential loss will be greatest. The proposal seeks to give the state housing financing agency $50 million with which to help save "aging" buildings and mobilize $100 million in private capital from Bank of America, Citigroup, SunTrust, Regions, Wachovia and WaMu. Together with the state, Florida federally certified community development financial institutions and the banks will acquire and rehab multifamily rental housing properties that are struggling to stay in the affordable housing inventory.
Many of these buildings, already paid for with taxpayer dollars, are providing housing for the most vulnerable. Many are already up for sale and more will be up as soon as owners walk away from the rising costs of insurance, property taxes and the costly repairs that come with aging buildings.
It's no surprise that Miami-Dade, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and St. Pete will be the hardest hit with the largest numbers of expiring-use housing in their areas. But the units are everywhere and estimates indicate that many Florida communities will see nearly 100 percent of their Section 8 units expire by the year 2015 with the potential loss being as great as a 1,000 to 6,000 units in about 13 counties. If we are losing two units for every one we can build - as national trends indicate - doesn't it make sense to preserve what we can? It's time for Florida to do something now, before it's too late.
Source: TBO.com