ORLANDO, Fla. — Numbers show just 15 percent of people in Orlando’s historic Parramore neighborhood own their own home.
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Right now, Orlando leaders are looking for a developer to build 17 single family homes on city property, in both Parramore and Holden Heights neighborhoods. to bring ownership to more residents.
They are hoping this project will spur more development and help fix declining home ownership in those neighborhoods.
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Channel 9′s Sabrina Maggiore is digging into the city’s plans to help bring homeownership to more residents in those neighborhoods.
While were still a long way away from the land getting turned into a home once a developer is chosen. the homes will have income requirements for potential buyers.
The maximum income for a family of four that wants to move in will be just over $70,000.
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“We know one of the greatest wealth builders is homeownership,” said Regina Hill District 5, Orlando City Commissioner.
As the city looks to revitalize the neighborhoods. Their plan includes helping residents transition from renting to homebuying.
Hill said it helps create neighborhoods where residents are invested in their community.
“A lot of displacement happened, and we lost those homes. So now that we’re now revitalizing Parramore, our major focus now is homeownership,” said Hill.
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A 2020 study shows that Parramore has half the number of homeowners as the rest of the Orlando. Citywide 35% of homes are owner occupied compared to just 15% in Parramore.
For neighborhood stability, you want to have a mixture of renters and homeowners, and homeownership has been very low-income mark”, said Oren henry - director of housing and community development, City of Orlando. " There’s not a lot of construction for homeowners going on.”
“This batch of 17 homes in the development pipeline won’t be the last. They want to bring 45 affordable homes to city land across Parramore over the next 5 years,” said Commissioner Hill.
“People that have been there over 3040 50 years. Can’t afford to stay in Parramore.”
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“Gentrification is not about color. It’s about economics. So, with us creating economical single-family homes, people won’t be priced out,” said Hill.
The city didn’t say not everyone is ready for homeownership so building multifamily homes in Parramore is still a focus.
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