UF receives $500,000 from Wachovia Foundation to research affordable housing

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – June 27, 2007 – To help address the need for affordable housing for people of all income levels throughout the Sunshine State, the Wachovia Foundation is giving $500,000 to the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Planning. The funding will enable researchers to identify the state’s affordable housing issues and assess the suitability of sites for affordable housing development and preservation.

The three-year grant will support an interdisciplinary research project in the college between the department of urban and regional planning and the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing located in the Rinker School of Building Construction.

“Wachovia’s funding of this project allows us to bring together the expertise of the Shimberg Center, the research and knowledge of the department of urban and regional planning and the cutting-edge spatial analysis available through the department’s GeoPlan Center,” says William O’Dell, associate director and manager of the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse in the Shimberg Center.

O’Dell will work with assistant professor Kristin Larsen and associate professor Ilir Bejleri from urban and regional planning to create a model that will help Florida communities in evaluate affordable housing sites. The software and mapping tool they create will incorporate the local values and vision of the communities. A critical component of the process is community input through public hearings and meetings.

“We plan to work with three case study communities. We are already beginning to work with Jacksonville, and we hope to identify two other communities interested in working with us,” Larsen said. “The community-based solutions that will result from this model represent an exciting potential breakthrough in the Florida affordable housing market.”

© 2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

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