Published on 09 August 2024
(Pictured from left: Gainesville City Councilman for District 3 Casey Willits, Bright Community Trust President Frank Wells, Mayor pro tempore and Councilman without portfolio Cynthia Moore Chestnut, and Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward.)
Community leaders and guests beamed with joy at Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the first affordable home built through the City of Gainesville’s Community Land Trust (CLT) partnership with Bright Community Trust.
The new single-family home on Southwest Second Street is the first of 10 homes being built in Gainesville on vacant lots previously owned by the city. Bright will retain ownership of the lots while income-eligible homeowners will purchase the homes with a long-term lease on the land.
“Two years after beginning this partnership with Bright, we are able to open the doors to the first Community Land Trust home,” said Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward. “I am thrilled to see the Trust become a working part of our affordable housing plan and to have this home in the Porter’s Community, which is of such historical significance to Gainesville.”
New 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home built by local affordable housing developer Alachua Habitat for Humanity is for sale.
“How exciting for a homeowner to get the keys to this home right next to Depot Park and close to great schools and medical care,” said Bright Community President Frank Wells. “We are very excited to welcome a new neighbor here in the city of Gainesville.”
As part of its commitment to alleviate the affordable housing shortage in Gainesville, the city will ensure that the cost of the CLT homes remains permanently affordable. An affordability requirement in the housing contract with Bright limits current and future sales to income-eligible buyers and requires owner-occupancy of these homes.
Neighbors whose household income is no more than 80 percent of the area median income — as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and adjusted for family size — can qualify to buy a home. (In Gainesville, a family of four whose annual income does not exceed $76,250 can qualify; the income limit for a single applicant is $53,400.)
In addition, homebuyers may be able to receive up to $30,000 from the City’s Down Payment Assistance Program toward the purchase of a new home in the CLT.
CLTs are a new addition to the city’s comprehensive housing strategy to increase the supply of affordable housing through new construction. The trust’s first 10 homes are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. The city’s land donation program began in 2022 with the transfer of 11 undeveloped lots to Alachua Habitat for Humanity for the construction of affordable single-family homes.
A cornerstone of the city’s strategic plan is the creation of more affordable housing and the revitalization of eastern neighborhoods through expanded housing.
