A 1.8-acre blank canvas is about to turn into a beautiful picture off SE 21st Street in Gainesville, said Kindrell Hutchinson.
Hutchinson and his nonprofit, the Hutchinson Foundation, will add 22 affordable apartments to the currently empty dirt lot in the coming months. He said the foundation is not just providing homes but representing how Gainesville is supposed to serve its community.
The project, called Jessie’s Village after Hutchinson’s grandmother, broke ground on Tuesday with a crowd of local leaders and more than a few Hutchinsons in support. Hutchinson verbally painted the “beautiful picture” until the construction brings it to life.
“This is a representation of what we’re supposed to do together as a community,” he said. “We’re supposed to work together to build, to continue to build and to continue to build until we have something that we can be proud of.”
Hutchinson said his grandmother has a special place because of the core values that she instilled: serve God first, respect each other and serve the community. He said Jessie’s Village will work on the obvious and critical need for affordable housing in the Gainesville area.
The Hutchinson Foundation, he said, aims to develop safe, clean and quality affordable housing—with special emphasis on quality. Hutchinson said having quality prevents housing projects from turning into the projects.
The city of Gainesville contributed $511,700 toward the project—$280,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the federal government, $97,000 from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, $47,000 from the Community Development Block Grant and $87,700 from the ConnectFree Program.
The funds came because the project will be affordable for residents at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI). For a family of four, 65% AMI means making no more than $61,945 annually, or a single person making $43,333.
Gainesville and Alachua County have both worked to improve housing through various initiatives and policy changes.
In October, the Gainesville City Commission finalized its inclusionary zoning policy, a requirement for certain apartment projects to set aside affordable units. That policy targets people making 80% AMI or less.
The affordable housing market differs across the state, and both Gainesville and Alachua County opted out of a portion of Florida’s Live Local Act that gives tax breaks to affordable apartments—with affordable including those at 120% AMI or below.
Making 120% AMI in Gainesville means $80,040 for a single person or $114,360 for a family of four. All the apartments that applied for the Live Local Act’s tax exemption were at the 120% AMI side of the scale.
Gainesville staff said the state’s program includes apartment complexes not considered affordable by the city’s definition. However, the reason Gainesville and Alachua County were able to opt out was because of a “surplus” of affordable housing.
Data from the UF Shimberg Center for Housing Studies showed that local affordable housing at 80% AMI and below is lacking, but the Gainesville area has so many apartment complexes renting at the 100-120% AMI levels that it creates a perceived surplus according to the Live Local Act’s criteria.
In the middle of the blank canvas on Tuesday, Gainesville Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said Jessie’s Village is exactly what East Gainesville has been asking for and needing.
“As I say thank you today, I say it from the very bottom of my heart because this is hallowed ground, and it is hallowed ground because, to me, it represents the transformation that not just district one needs but this entire city needs,” Duncan-Walker said.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the project, and ones like it, will have ripple effects across the city. One main way, he said, is by creating jobs and community.
“It’s not about houses; it’s not about apartments; it’s about a place where children can grow and want to stay and want to build more community,” Ward said.