Here’s how Florida’s new affordable housing bill aims to fix critical shortage

Justin Warmoth speaks with Ryan Von Weller

ORLANDO, Fla. – Like the rest of the country, Florida has a critical shortage of affordable housing, and the situation is even more dire in Orlando’s service-based economy.

In fact, Orlando ranks second-worst in the country when it comes to affordable housing availability, according to a new report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

Ryan Von Weller with Wendover Housing Partners sat down with anchor Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly” to discuss how the newly signed “Live Local Act” will be crucial in increasing the state’s supply of affordable housing.

“This is the biggest housing bill Florida has probably seen in a generation,” Von Weller said. “What we’ve seen with this bill is not only new tranches of capital that’ll help us build more units, but it also incentivizes local governments to encourage affordable housing within existing buildings.”

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The bill, which will invest $711 million in several other programs, ultimately makes it easier for developers to build affordable housing.

Wendover Housing Partners has also teamed up with Universal Orlando to develop an affordable housing community on theme park property.

The 20-acre property called Catchlight Crossings will be used for 1,000 units of affordable/mixed-income housing, tuition-free preschool, on-site medical offices, a transportation center and much more.

“What’s really unique about Catchlight and different from a lot of other affordable housing is that we’ve got a full circle of services in the actual community,” Von Weller said. “We’re hoping to get a grocer on site as well and other things the residents are going to need on a daily basis, so they don’t have to venture out in the I-Drive corridor.”

Read the bill below.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.


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About the Author:

Justin Warmoth joined News 6 in 2013 and is now a morning news anchor.

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