NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, FL — A Tallahassee nonprofit is concerned that rising home prices in Tallahassee are pricing essential workers — teachers, firefighters, and police officers — out of the community.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
A newly proposed concept backed by a local nonprofit hopes to change that.
In April, Zillow reported that the average sale price of a home in Tallahassee was $298,000, but 2024 Census data shows most households in Tallahassee earn about 5 times less than that, with the median household income at $57,409.
Bud Chiles, the President of the Lawton Chiles Foundation, is working to close that gap through nonprofit Jubilee Family Homes.
He is focused on undeveloped areas in Welaunee near the Canopy neighborhood, which is currently listed on the City of Tallahassee's affordable housing inventory.
"They shouldn't be priced out of the American dream, of having a home," Chiles said.
Chiles plans to utilize a community land trust model — which separates land cost from home value — with the goal of creating permanent affordability.
"Well, you know, there could be houses in this development for around $200,000 or $225,000 if they were done in an affordable way," Chiles said.
Sam Staley, the Director of the FSU DeVoe Moore Institute, says a variety of housing units is needed to balance the market.
"Yes, we need affordable housing. We need lots of housing across all the different spectrums because it's about trying to have the right housing for the right households at the right time," Staley said.
The City of Tallahassee already requires “all new residential developments with 50 or more housing units to sell at least 10% of their units at an affordable price to low-to-moderate-income residents.”
But Chiles believes more can be done. He is already taking on a $10 million project in Thomasville and is working to get more people on board to pursue a similar effort in Tallahassee.
“My vision of the city in Tallahassee would be — that it's a place that cares as much for the people that are driving the fire truck, that are teaching in the school, that are, you know, working the beat and taking their lives at risk to be a police officer or a sheriff's deputy,” he said. “That those people kind of enjoy the American dream and that there would be efforts, real efforts to help them to get there. Because that dream is really disappearing for a lot of these people.”
Chiles says he is also interested in expanding the community land trust concept to other cities, including Valdosta, Moultrie, Tifton, and Albany, and hopes that interest will help generate more local support for a Tallahassee project.
***This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.***
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
