Page 14 - HB0822

Mayor’s Message

Fort Lauderdale focuses efforts to tackle

need for more affordable housing

ar too often in recent months has someone stopped me on the street or written
me an email concerned about the affordability of housing in the greater Fort
FLauderdale area.
Prices for single-family homes and condos have increased to the point where the
American dream of homeownership is out of grasp for many families. Meanwhile, higher
rental rates are causing other families to struggle to make ends meet day to day.
This crisis is occurring across the nation, and many factors are outside the control
of local governments. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Interest rates are rising. The
Dean Trantalis
Mayor continued popularity of Florida as a place to live has created a housing shortage
City of Fort Lauderdale that is forcing up prices. And,the state has yet to undertake meaningful reform of our
dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov expensive property insurance system.

The city of Fort Lauderdale has been fighting hard to combat the problem and
increase the stock of affordable housing. We want to do as much as possible to
ensure we remain a diverse community open to all income levels – a place where
workers from nurses and teachers to bank tellers and waiters can afford to live, a
place where someone fresh from college can launch a career and a place where a
senior citizen can retire comfortably.
Here are some of the affordable and workforce housing projects that have either
come online in the last couple years or are currently moving through the design and
construction process:
City Hall, 8th Floor
100 N Andrews Ave • Six13 – Sistrunk Blvd. corridor – mixed-use
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
• Village View – Flagler Village – seniors housing
• River Gardens Townhouses – Sweeting Estates-River Gardens
• Sailboat Bend II – Sailboat Bend – low-income seniors housing
• Suncrest Court – Suncrest – rental apartments makeover upgrades
• Rock Island Apartments – Rock Island – rental apartments makeover upgrades
• Poinciana Crossing – S. Andrews Ave. – low-income housing project
• Mount Hermon AME Church housing – Dorsey-Riverbend senior housing
• Pantry Lofts – NW 3rd & Sistrunk –senior housing & Pantry of Broward facility
• Wright Dynasty development – Sistrunk Blvd. – affordable housing & mixed use
• The Arcadian – NW 7th Ave. – 10% set aside for affordable housing
Office Contact • Seven on Seventh – NW 7th Ave. – BHIP mixed-use with affordable housing units
Scott Wyman • The Adderley – Sistrunk Blvd. – commercial & rental homes. 10% affordable housing
Chief of Staff
Office of the Mayor • The Aldridge and The Laramore – Sistrunk Blvd. corridor – affordable rental units
swyman@fortlauderdale.gov • Broadview Park – 500+ units of public housing planned
954.828.5314
The city’s efforts go beyond these cooperative arrangements with private developers
and our own Housing Authority. In another initiative, we have been converting city-
owned lots toward the construction of affordable housing.
A year ago, the city retained five development firms to construct homes on 43 lots
owned by our redevelopment agency and sell them at reduced prices that reflected
the lack of land-acquisition costs. The owners must live in them for seven years under
the program we set up.
In November, the city conveyed another seven properties to the redevelopment
agency for the purpose of constructing affordable housing. Occupancy would be

12 HARBOR BEACH Magazine | www . harborbeach . org

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