Sherry, as always your insights are spot on. The solutions proposed here via Jaffee and Renzi—the Landlord Registry, an Office of Housing Resources, and a revolving loan fund—are promising structural answers Jacksonville needs. For too long, local policy has relied on giving away incentives to private developers while ignoring the immediate protection of renters. Implementing these local tools is a start to shifting the balance of power away from greedy 'milkers' to protecting the rights of hardworking residents and neighborhoods.
It's troubling that the COJ Housing program has $2 million unspent dollars for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026. Especially since 3 of the 4 means-tested repair programs have been closed out for some time. Keeping seniors and others in their homes costs relatively little; new housing, even when there are set-asides for working folks, is expensive and takes time to build. How about it, Mayor Deegan: Divert that $2 million to repairs NOW (before some bright MAGA Council president sweeps it elsewhere.)
Thank you for this super-accessible summary. JAX is much larger than where I live -- Syracuse, NY – but we share some elements of the problems you describe. One challenge that may be somewhat unique to Syracuse is what has been called “the Twin Gap Dilemma." Properties in many neighborhoods are too cheap to incentivize private development, while the rents required for newly renovated or built housing far exceed what the majority of residents can afford. In addition, local city government is fighting a tough battle with the “financialization” of housing that leads to the extraction of rental income with minimal upkeep, worsening blighted conditions and code violations.
This welcome, studied, and thoughtful proof of the eventuality we've all watched for years deserves serious--grave, even--recognition and attention.
As an example of post-capitalist decline, the local housing crisis serves as more than a forecast of what is to come, but as a concrete (or, more aptly, plywood and vinyl siding) epitaph of the failure of government to govern for the people, and the helplessness of communities simply crying out for a fair and humane existance
Anyone with eyes has seen this coming, and has, for the better part of a decade, pleaded for mitigation from advocates and our leadership. To no avail.
The chickens have come home to roost, as they say--or, in this case, the vultures.
If I am correct - Lavilla land around & near the Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing Park went to a developer in return for "affordable housing". Those units are over $350,000, some up to $400,000. I think the developer either paid a nominal amount for the land or was essentially "gifted" it (?).
Prior to the Recession of 2007/8/9 - suburban tract homes by the major national production builders in St. Johns County were selling in the mid-to-high $200's/low $300's. When the market started coming back in 2010/11/12 - those same builders confided that they were building the same house, with the same features, same finishes and on the same type lots with the same landscape for at least $100,000 more. Their business plans were not much different from making widgets. The mantra was; Make Money and Maximize Profits.
Incidentally and interestingly - it was that same period in St, Johns County that Patrick Zalupski launched his company, Dreamfinders Homes, by significantly under-cutting the national competition's pricing. Approximately 20 years later, today, the company is worth billions.
Today - it is remarkable how little one gets for $450,000 in the tract home neighborhoods. You have to wonder whether they can be resold in 20 or so years, given that there are thousands of them essentially all the same. Once a prospective buyer spends a couple of days with a realtor looking at 10 or more potential homes in 3 or more neighborhoods - they would never be able to recall any distinctions.
Sherry, as always your insights are spot on. The solutions proposed here via Jaffee and Renzi—the Landlord Registry, an Office of Housing Resources, and a revolving loan fund—are promising structural answers Jacksonville needs. For too long, local policy has relied on giving away incentives to private developers while ignoring the immediate protection of renters. Implementing these local tools is a start to shifting the balance of power away from greedy 'milkers' to protecting the rights of hardworking residents and neighborhoods.
It's troubling that the COJ Housing program has $2 million unspent dollars for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026. Especially since 3 of the 4 means-tested repair programs have been closed out for some time. Keeping seniors and others in their homes costs relatively little; new housing, even when there are set-asides for working folks, is expensive and takes time to build. How about it, Mayor Deegan: Divert that $2 million to repairs NOW (before some bright MAGA Council president sweeps it elsewhere.)
Thank you for this super-accessible summary. JAX is much larger than where I live -- Syracuse, NY – but we share some elements of the problems you describe. One challenge that may be somewhat unique to Syracuse is what has been called “the Twin Gap Dilemma." Properties in many neighborhoods are too cheap to incentivize private development, while the rents required for newly renovated or built housing far exceed what the majority of residents can afford. In addition, local city government is fighting a tough battle with the “financialization” of housing that leads to the extraction of rental income with minimal upkeep, worsening blighted conditions and code violations.
This welcome, studied, and thoughtful proof of the eventuality we've all watched for years deserves serious--grave, even--recognition and attention.
As an example of post-capitalist decline, the local housing crisis serves as more than a forecast of what is to come, but as a concrete (or, more aptly, plywood and vinyl siding) epitaph of the failure of government to govern for the people, and the helplessness of communities simply crying out for a fair and humane existance
Anyone with eyes has seen this coming, and has, for the better part of a decade, pleaded for mitigation from advocates and our leadership. To no avail.
The chickens have come home to roost, as they say--or, in this case, the vultures.
If I am correct - Lavilla land around & near the Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing Park went to a developer in return for "affordable housing". Those units are over $350,000, some up to $400,000. I think the developer either paid a nominal amount for the land or was essentially "gifted" it (?).
Prior to the Recession of 2007/8/9 - suburban tract homes by the major national production builders in St. Johns County were selling in the mid-to-high $200's/low $300's. When the market started coming back in 2010/11/12 - those same builders confided that they were building the same house, with the same features, same finishes and on the same type lots with the same landscape for at least $100,000 more. Their business plans were not much different from making widgets. The mantra was; Make Money and Maximize Profits.
Incidentally and interestingly - it was that same period in St, Johns County that Patrick Zalupski launched his company, Dreamfinders Homes, by significantly under-cutting the national competition's pricing. Approximately 20 years later, today, the company is worth billions.
Today - it is remarkable how little one gets for $450,000 in the tract home neighborhoods. You have to wonder whether they can be resold in 20 or so years, given that there are thousands of them essentially all the same. Once a prospective buyer spends a couple of days with a realtor looking at 10 or more potential homes in 3 or more neighborhoods - they would never be able to recall any distinctions.