Sweetwater Square shows commitment to retaining, improving affordable housing
On June 2, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Sweetwater Square affordable housing project was attended by hundreds of residents and neighbors, officials from many organizations and representatives from Fairstead, the project developer. The event celebrated the completion of the renovation project that completely refurbished and updated 200 affordable apartments in the city of Gainesville.
The celebration was a joyous gathering of a community. Under the hot sun and canopied tents, parents and children enjoyed a fun-filled day of activities, including games, food and live entertainment. Kids had their faces painted, played ring toss and were mesmerized by men on stilts and jugglers on hoverboards.
Parents learned more about community services from organizations tabling at the event, such as Alachua County Social Services, Gainesville Regional Utilities, Alachua County Public Schools and others. It was an old-fashioned neighborhood party.
Alachua County Commission Chair Marihelen Wheeler recognized the collective efforts of the many people who helped to make this event possible, most notably the developer, Fairstead. Fairstead is the private partner in this project and is responsible for the renovation and management of the project.
Sweetwater Square is the most recent collaboration between the Alachua County Commission and the Alachua County Housing Finance Authority. The project is an example of our local government’s commitment to retaining and improving affordable housing.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines affordable housing as the tenant’s rent not exceeding 30% of their gross income, including utilities. In 2019, HUD presented a “Worst-Case Housing Needs” report to Congress demonstrating that more than 7 million families cannot access affordable housing and use more than half of their income toward paying rent. The HUD report also indicated that the current affordable housing stock is insufficient.
On February 11, 2020, the County Commission approved the issuance of Multifamily Mortgage Revenue Bonds in the amount of $26.5 million in support of the Sweetwater Square project. The County Commission’s approval of this financing is required under the Internal Revenue Code to issue the bonds on a tax-exempt basis and obtain the required private activity bond allocation from the state of Florida.
The bonds allowed the financing to acquire and completely renovate the 200-unit Sweetwater Square project, formerly known as the Village & Forest Apartments. Previously, the County Commission supported similarly scaled Alachua County Housing Finance projects to include other tax credit properties, including Brookside Apartments, Eden Park, Forest & Village Green, Lewis Place, Santa Fe Oaks and Harbor Cove.
Projects such as Sweetwater Square are an essential piece of the affordable housing puzzle and fulfill our goal of developing, preserving, and retaining affordable housing. Fortunately, there are millions of dollars more in available bonding capacity.
Stephen Weeks is Alachua County housing program manager.
Join the conversation
Share your opinions by sending a letter to the editor (up to 200 words) to letters@gainesville.com. Letters must include the writer's full name and city of residence. Additional guidelines for submitting letters and longer guest columns can be found at bit.ly/sunopinionguidelines.
Journalism matters. Your support matters.
Get a digital subscription to the Gainesville Sun. Includes must-see content on Gainesville.com and Gatorsports.com, breaking news and updates on all your devices, and access to the eEdition. Visit www.gainesville.com/subscribenow to sign up.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Stephen Weeks: An affordable housing celebration at Sweetwater Square
