Page 15 - Magazine 1-winter 2017

Habitat Container Magazine Smart and Sustainable Habitats Winter 2017
Habitat Container Magazine November 1, 2017
Patrick Campbell, a Related Group vice president who also sat on the panel, also said micro units may not be cost effective alternatives for millennials. “With cool amenities and cool locations come high prices,” Campbell said. “It becomes a challenge to cater to millennials and give them something affordable at the same time.”
With Miami becoming so expensive, Related is focusing its multifamily development projects in suburban neighborhoods, Campbell said. “Numbers wise, we can’t do buildings downtown,” he said. “So we are going further away. That helps us overcome some of the challenges.”
2-Central Florida sees affordable-housing shortage worsening
By MARY SHANKLIN ORLANDO SENTINEL
Posted: November 2, 2017 at 2:09 a.m.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando theme-park worker Daisy Hernandez was struggling to find an affordable rental even before Hurricane Irma squeezed central Florida housing options and Hurricane Maria pushed Puerto Ricans to the mainland.
"I'm trying to hurry to see if I can get this apartment in the Four Corners area southwest of Walt Disney World," Hernandez said. "At the beginning of November, there will be a lot more Puerto Ricans here looking for apartments."
Hernandez and other central Floridians can expect no reprieve, researchers say, from rising rents and home prices in a metro area deemed one of the nation's hottest by Arch Mortgage Insurance Company. To help meet needs, Osceola, Orange and Seminole county officials say they are seeking a "missing middle" of housing options, such as garage apartments or tiny homes.
"We created this American dream of owning your own home and owning your own property, and it's not necessarily an appropriate dream for everyone at every stage of their life," said Susan Caswell, community development administrator for Osceola County.
Until now, central Florida's housing has consisted mostly of suburban-style houses, town homes and garden apartments. Local governments and the building industry need to work together to create more housing choices, Caswell said.
Osceola County might suspend new development approvals so it has time to change building rules with options such as small-scale cottage homes, courtyard apartments, "micro unit" rentals and garage apartments embedded in communities designed for residents of diverse incomes and ages, as well as revisit impact fees.
Orange County is considering mixed-style housing as it moves forward with a development district which would include about 500 acres south of downtown Orlando. Buildings with five to eight stories and a mix of residential, office and retail are being considered, said County Planner Alberto Vargas. The county is considering prospects for homes with added rentable living spaces of about 400 square feet. The space could help offset mortgage costs for owners who rent them out while helping meet a need, he added.
"The bottom line: You should not be able to see the difference between market-rate properties and affordable ones," Vargas said.
Seminole County is seeking proposals that include reusing old schools, offices and stores, said Donna King, community development division manager for the county. Seminole County now allows "tiny houses," which can be constructed with less than 600 square feet, in certain areas.
"We are looking for people to come to us with ideas on how to increase the number of affordable developments in Seminole," she said.
The proposals are driven, in part, by a projected population increase of about 70,000 annually in the four-county central Florida region during the decade ending in 2025, University of Florida economic research shows. Supply of homes on the market is already down to about half of normal levels, and affordable apartments are fast becoming unaffordable.
Hernandez said she has waited for federal housing vouchers from the Orlando Housing Authority for months, with no indication whether she would ever get them. Those dynamics have helped boost Metro Orlando home prices to rise at double the national rate from a year ago. The bottom line for Metro Orlando is a sharp drop in homeownership with limited housing alternatives.
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