- Phase III of Columbia Gardens at South City redevelopment project is increasing in cost.
- Phase III is a 90-unit senior housing complex with one and two-bedroom units.
- Watch the video to see what's driving up costs and how leaders plan to pay for it.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
"There's a great demand for Senior Citizens for everything."
You may remember Teresa Boyd. I talked to her back in February when she was one of the first tenants moving into her new and improved apartment.
"I've been doing rather well since I've been here!"
While she's comfortable in her new spot, she knows senior citizens living on Tallahassee's Southside are need of housing as well.
"There's a lot of senior citizens that need housing."
It's been over three months since the Orange Avenue apartments, now named Columbia Gardens, opened to the public after major redevelopments.
The redevelopments started five years ago… the Tallahassee Housing Authority came up with a master plan to demolish 200 public housing units and replaced it with 500 affordable units.
Now it's time for phase three of the project.
"Phase 3 is across the street; we will be located on the corner of Country Club and Orange Avenue. It's a senior citizen facility that will include 90 apartments, one and two bedrooms for 62 and over."
However, Phase 3 of the redevelopment project is experiencing an estimated 4 million dollar funding gap. This is because of the increase of construction costs and higher interest rates.
Executive Director of the Tallahassee Housing Authority, Brenda Williams tells me they've asked the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, and the Tallahassee CRA for financial help.
"The third phase we were able to secure $3 million dollars from the three entities. We're looking forward for their continued support."
Those numbers in mind, I asked what else they'll do to pay for the project.
"We are in the process of preparing an application to submit to the Florida housing finance corporation for funding to build the facility… Those applications are due in July."
While the Tallahassee Housing Authority is working to close this gap and complete the project, neighbors like Boyd say senior citizens will feel how she felt just a few months ago."
"It's moving on up!"
