- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Gainesville a $25 million Choice Neighborhoods grant.
- The grant targets redevelopment of Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows neighborhoods, totaling 180 housing units near ELITE Force Training Center.
- Surveys revealed community desires for safer road crossings, banks, grocery stores, and local businesses in the redevelopment area.
Gainesville interim City Manager Andrew Persons interrupted Thursday’s regular meeting to announce that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had sent a letter awarding the city a $25 million Choice Neighborhoods grant.
The application for the grant focused on the low-income neighborhoods of Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows on East University Avenue, and the city hosted dozens of meetings and compiled hundreds of survey responses to draft the application.
The process started in 2023 with Gainesville getting one of 13 national planning grants to engage the community in order to then submit for the bigger Choice Neighborhoods grant. The city finished the planning process last year—all with hopes that its project would be one of a select few.
After Persons’ announcement, commissioners clapped and cheered. Mayor Harvey Ward raised his hands and said the commission could break its own rules against audible celebrations in the chamber.
The city plans to use the grant to redevelop the two neighborhoods, with a combined 180 units, that surround the ELITE Force Training Center, located in Pine Meadows. The grant could also allow additional mixed-income development at the site.
The planning also looked at businesses in the area and gaps. Survey respondents placed a bank or credit union as their highest desire, followed closely by a bakery/cafe, a grocery store and then a barbershop or salon.
The survey also reported that safer road crossings were top of mind, especially after the 2021 death of four-year-old Pine Meadows resident Dylan Roberts. Roberts was killed right in front of the neighborhood when crossing East University Avenue.
The city hopes the grant would allow for a transformational redevelopment of the neighborhoods and the East University Avenue area, with Fred Cone Park next door and a straight shot to downtown.