To increase its affordable housing stock, the City of Tucson has created a new fund designed to help developers get such projects off the ground.
Members of the Tucson City Council have unanimously approved what is officially called the People, Communities and Homes Investment Plan specifically designed to address what has become an increasingly pressing need for affordable housing.
The move for such housing, according to city documents, is coming from a variety of sources. Just over 21% of city homeowners are now classified as being cost-burdened, which means that they use more than 30% of their income on housing.
Another challenge: the roughly 97,000 Tucson residents who are now regarded as living below the median area income.
“Of the homes sold in 2023, just over one-third (38.2%) were affordable to a family earning the local median income,” says the five-year strategic plan issued by the City of Tucson’s Housing & Community Development Department.
To tackle the challenge, at least 24,000 new housing units, priced at or below the 30% adjusted median family income rate, are needed immediately for all of Pima County, with 16,000 needed for just Tucson alone.
The new housing fund set up by council members is starting off with a reserve of $4 million to be used as a gap funding mechanism.
New projects, according to the fund’s use conditions, can be built by either private or non-profit organizations, with that initial $4 million expected to be replenished yearly.
Proclaiming that the People, Communities, and Homes Investment Plan is designed to “create equitable pathways to opportunity,” a press release issued by the City of Tucson adds that “a critical step towards equitable opportunity is providing safe, quality, affordable homes.”
November 12, 2024
By Garry Boulard
