City of Tampa breaks ground on new affordable housing project

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — City leaders broke ground Wednesday on a new affordable housing complex in East Henry Heights.

Mayor Jane Castor said this is a big game-changer in the ongoing effort to make housing more affordable for working families.

“What this does is allows people to have a safe place to live while they continue to work their way into better jobs and higher income,” Castor said.

The development, Residences at East End, will bring 174 new units to the area, with 131 of them, or roughly 75%, based on earnings between 22% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), while 43 units will also receive Section 8 project-based vouchers through the housing authority.

“For a family of four, that’s roughly between 32,000 and $83,000 a year of income. That is incredibly difficult for anyone to find housing when they’re in that category.” Castor said.

“We strongly believe that a city can’t be great unless you incorporate all types of housing,” said Jon Paul Perez, CEO of Related Group, the developer chosen by the city.

The project stems from a public-private partnership between the City of Tampa, Related Urban Group, and the Tampa Housing Authority.

It received $9 million in state funding through Florida’s State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, along with a $75,000 local match from the city. 

Robin Lockett, Tampa Bay Regional Director for Florida Rising, a grassroots economic advancement organization, said she wants to see more details on how the units will be distributed among income levels.

“I would want to know how many units [are] for each percentage that there are,” Lockett said.

8 On Your Side was able to update the chart below showing the number of housing units that would qualify for each AMI bracket.

“I do agree with, like mixed income because I think that’s really important to have possibly some with, 80% [or] 60%,” Lockett said.

Lockett added that the number of qualification requirements before finding out if one is approved or denied plays a role in the housing crisis as well.

“It’s the darn down payment or the application fee that– you fill out ten applications and you’re getting charged for each one, and your, down payment or your deposit is three times the rent—or you have to qualify three times the rent,” Lockett explained. “Florida rising will continue to advocate [and] we’ll continue to lobby.”