JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Families and local officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a new affordable housing development coming to Jacksonville's Mayport area Saturday morning.
As city officials cheered for the new affordable townhomes, they also pointed out that thousands more affordable housing units are needed to combat the affordable housing crisis gripping the city.
A dirt lot off Mayport Road is more than just Earth to future homeowners like Katheria Carrasquillo.
“It will be our first home that will be ours so it’s, very overwhelming," Carrasquillo said.
Carrasquillo and her son have qualified for one of the 44 new affordable housing townhomes set to be built by Beaches Habitat for Humanity.
The 'Coast Haven' is located at 2150 Mayport Road. To qualify, Duval County families must earn between 50% and 80% of the area median income, and be willing to contribute up to 300 hours of “sweat equity” by volunteering on the construction site and attending workshops.
Owning a home is something Carrasquillo once thought was out of her reach.
“Very grateful, very blessed to know that we qualified for this and it’s a brand new home, couldn’t ask for a better gift," Carrasquillo said.
City leaders say there is an affordable housing crisis in Jacksonville.
Twenty-six thousand low-income families are currently on the Jacksonville Housing Authority wait list for assistance, according to city officials. Over 50% of renters are cost-burdened, spending over 30% of their income on housing.
“We have the demand, we don’t have the supply but we have the demand, and what we’ve seen here in Jacksonville over the course of about 15 to 20 years is a lack of response to this crisis," said Joshua Hicks with the Jacksonville Office of Affordable Housing.
This year, the city launched a down payment assistance homeownership program for low-income families looking to buy their first home.
City leaders also say there are thousands of affordable housing units currently under construction in Jacksonville. The units at Coast Haven will be part of the solution.
“It’s definitely something that anyone whose fortunate enough to be part of I would recommend it a 100 times over," Carrasquillo said.
Construction will start this year and the development will open in sections. The goal is to have at least part of the development built by 2025, at that point, they will start moving in families and veterans will be part of the first groups to move in, officials say.