Panama City Commission approves program to help provide more affordable housing

Nathan Cobb, The News Herald
·2 min read
Panama City commissioners on Tuesday approved the 2023 Infill Program for City Lots, an initiative designed to spark the construction of more affordable homes throughout the city.
Panama City commissioners on Tuesday approved the 2023 Infill Program for City Lots, an initiative designed to spark the construction of more affordable homes throughout the city.

PANAMA CITY - City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2023 Infill Program for City Lots, an initiative designed to spark the construction of affordable homes on about 50 empty single-family residential lots owned by the city.

"I love this program," Commissioner Josh Street said. "I think it's great and looks good on paper. The ultimate objective that we really want to see, or at least I really do want to see, is these lots get developed for affordable housing."

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The approximately 50 vacant lots were primarily purchased by the city through different housing programs, meaning any properties built on them must be categorized as affordable housing.

Through the 2023 Infill Program, eligible buyers will hire with a general contractor to build an affordable home on a city lot. It is the responsibility of eligible buyers to locate and suggest a contractor to the city.

Panama City will then transfer the title of the lot to the contractor, and a financing lender can then place a mortgage on the lot.

"The important thing there is that the city is not doing the construction financing," city attorney Nevin Zimmerman said. "The goal is that the contractor has the ability to do the construction financing and can pledge as collateral the lot."

Zimmerman also noted the lot's title will revert to the city if an affordable home is not built within a given time period. The city also will work with contractors to find a new buyer if the original one backs out of the agreement.

If another eligible buyer is not found, the city will purchase the property using housing funds and sell to a future eligible buyer. After the purchase of the home by an eligible buyer, the city will be paid for the original lot based on a property appraisal.

"I think the way it's designed, it will perpetuate itself," Mayor Greg Brudnicki said. "As more homes are bought, lots are paid for and we're able to acquire more lots and keep that going. With the down payment assistance program, people are going to be able to qualify for a loan to take the contractor out.

"It's been successful, and I think it will continue to be successful."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City OKs program aimed at building more affordable housing