LAKELAND, Fla. — Lakeland has seen a significant amount of population growth within the last couple of years, but with rapid growth comes the concern of available homes.
“It’s really become an even more critical subject because of the current housing market and the demand being placed on the affordability of those units,” said Teresa Maio, Lakeland Planning and Housing Director.
That’s why affordable housing is the number one priority for the City of Lakeland in 2022. Currently, the city has seven multi-family projects either under construction or completed. That adds 581 affordable housing units to the area.
“Looking forward into the next 2-3 years we anticipate that there will be approximately another 200+ units that are going to be affordable or income-restricted,” said Maio.
Two workforce housing projects are also planned but have not yet secured funding.
Lakeland secured $127 million in private investment for affordable and workforce housing projects by leveraging $5.4 million in city, state and federal funding and incentives. Maio said interest among developers is increasing.
“We have seen a much greater interest here in Lakeland for multi-family development in particular. I think because of our growth rate, our location and also the availability of land,” she said.