Orlando Unlocked: Dyer to outline housing plan in State of the City
Mayor Buddy Dyer is expected to outline a package of incentives, fee waivers and flexible zoning rules on Tuesday at his annual State of the City speech. The 'Orlando Unlocked' policy package aims to encourage the creation of new housing, from small garage apartments to large complexes with hundreds of units.
Since 2020, the city has faced a shortage of approximately 9,400 apartments, houses, and other units. And with the population surge expected, about 46,000 more units will be needed to keep up.
'Our Orlando Unlocked initiative helps increase density in ways that strengthen neighborhoods enabling granny flats, townhomes and apartments to be built in more locations across the city,' a draft of the mayor's speech reads. 'Because when we expand supply, we not only lower costs, we give people the power to choose where and how they want to live.'
The speech is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Plaza Live.
The city is seeking to increase housing stock across all price points, in a region where prices hit a record high last year. The median sale price in Central Florida last December was $380,000, a figure that includes single-family houses, condominiums, duplexes and townhomes.
But city officials also aim to offer incentives, fee waivers, reductions in parking requirements and variances to create more affordable places to live. For example, the city offered a 15% parking reduction and a school impact fee waiver totaling about $2 million to 52 at Park, a new apartment complex at West Colonial Drive and John Young Parkway.
The neighborhood is under construction and includes 300 units for residents who make at or below 60% of the area's median income of about $69,000.
Other policies seek to speed up permitting and review processes to get shovels in the ground quicker. For example, most proposals of 100 units or fewer wouldn't require public hearings.
'The biggest role I think we see the city having is helping on the supply realm,' said David Barilla, the executive director of Orlando's Community Redevelopment Agency.
Activists have been pushing city leaders to go further and outright eliminate minimum parking requirements. they contend parking costs developers between $3,000 and $5,000 per space and, in turn, boosts housing costs. City officials are drafting an ordinance, though its passage is far from certain, the Orlando Sentinel reported previously.
In recent years, city officials reduced parking requirements downtown and waived them altogether in one stretch between Interstate 4 and Rosalind Avenue.
Chief Planner Elisabeth Dang said the Unlock Orlando campaign is designed for a range of plans, from those proposed by the largest developers down to those adding a garage apartment to a neighborhood property.
'We're putting all that together to try to hopefully encourage some people who have been on the sidelines because they just don't know how to get started, to participate and start some new projects we might not see otherwise,' she said.
A fact sheet prepared by the city states that about 9,200 units are under construction across the city and about 18,000 are approved or in permit review.
The Orlando region — from Sanford to Kissimmee — is one of the nation's toughest markets for affordable housing. A report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found the area is the sixth worst, and that only 19 affordable units per 100 extremely low-income renters are available.
While rent prices have cooled this year from COVID-era surges, prices are still higher than many working-class renters can afford. The average studio runs $1,679, down 1% from last year, and the average 2-bedroom unit costs $1,795, a 15% decrease from last year, according to Rent.com.
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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Orlando Unlocked: Dyer to outline housing plan in State of the City
Orlando currently faces a housing shortage and in another decade, the need for more apartments and houses will be critical as 90,000 new residents are expected to call the City Beautiful home by 2035. Mayor Buddy Dyer is expected to outline a package of incentives, fee waivers and flexible zoning rules on Tuesday at his annual State of the City speech. The 'Orlando Unlocked' policy package aims to encourage the creation of new housing, from small garage apartments to large complexes with hundreds of units. Since 2020, the city has faced a shortage of approximately 9,400 apartments, houses, and other units. And with the population surge expected, about 46,000 more units will be needed to keep up. 'Our Orlando Unlocked initiative helps increase density in ways that strengthen neighborhoods enabling granny flats, townhomes and apartments to be built in more locations across the city,' a draft of the mayor's speech reads. 'Because when we expand supply, we not only lower costs, we give people the power to choose where and how they want to live.' The speech is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Plaza Live. The city is seeking to increase housing stock across all price points, in a region where prices hit a record high last year. The median sale price in Central Florida last December was $380,000, a figure that includes single-family houses, condominiums, duplexes and townhomes. But city officials also aim to offer incentives, fee waivers, reductions in parking requirements and variances to create more affordable places to live. For example, the city offered a 15% parking reduction and a school impact fee waiver totaling about $2 million to 52 at Park, a new apartment complex at West Colonial Drive and John Young Parkway. The neighborhood is under construction and includes 300 units for residents who make at or below 60% of the area's median income of about $69,000. Other policies seek to speed up permitting and review processes to get shovels in the ground quicker. For example, most proposals of 100 units or fewer wouldn't require public hearings. 'The biggest role I think we see the city having is helping on the supply realm,' said David Barilla, the executive director of Orlando's Community Redevelopment Agency. Activists have been pushing city leaders to go further and outright eliminate minimum parking requirements. they contend parking costs developers between $3,000 and $5,000 per space and, in turn, boosts housing costs. City officials are drafting an ordinance, though its passage is far from certain, the Orlando Sentinel reported previously. In recent years, city officials reduced parking requirements downtown and waived them altogether in one stretch between Interstate 4 and Rosalind Avenue. Chief Planner Elisabeth Dang said the Unlock Orlando campaign is designed for a range of plans, from those proposed by the largest developers down to those adding a garage apartment to a neighborhood property. 'We're putting all that together to try to hopefully encourage some people who have been on the sidelines because they just don't know how to get started, to participate and start some new projects we might not see otherwise,' she said. A fact sheet prepared by the city states that about 9,200 units are under construction across the city and about 18,000 are approved or in permit review. The Orlando region — from Sanford to Kissimmee — is one of the nation's toughest markets for affordable housing. A report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found the area is the sixth worst, and that only 19 affordable units per 100 extremely low-income renters are available. While rent prices have cooled this year from COVID-era surges, prices are still higher than many working-class renters can afford. The average studio runs $1,679, down 1% from last year, and the average 2-bedroom unit costs $1,795, a 15% decrease from last year, according to Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
10-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
The state sets lofty goals in the name of a brighter future. What's a vision and what's a hallucination?
In April of 2006, I watched a posse of politicians gather at Skid Row's Midnight Mission to introduce, with great fanfare and unbridled confidence, a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Los Angeles. That didn't work out so well. Twelve years later, in his 2018 State of the City address, Mayor Eric Garcetti made a full-throated vow to quit fooling around and get the job done. 'We are here to end homelessness,' he said. Mission not accomplished. We have a habit of setting lofty goals and making grand promises in Los Angeles and in California. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Better to have politicians and experts who study the pressing issues of the day and go out on a limb rather than shrug their shoulders. 'It's hard to do anything if you don't have a vision,' said Jessica Bremner, a Cal State L.A. urban geography professor. Transit, housing and infrastructure needs won't materialize without that vision, she added. 'Nothing will move.' Agreed. And all of us, not just politicians, want to believe there's a better version of our community — a brighter future. But there is a big difference between a vision and a hallucination, and we've had some of both in recent years. Here's a sampling: In 2022, California set a goal of eliminating the sale of gas-powered vehicles after 2035 — which would dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions — and reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the state did more than set a goal. It passed a law requiring hospitals to upgrade seismic safety by 2030. Los Angeles, under Garcetti, championed Vision Zero in 2015. The goal? Eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. Not reduce, but eliminate. In 2020, the city embraced SmartLA 2028, a plan to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and gas-powered vehicles and build 'a data-driven connected city, which addresses the digital divide and brings fresh ideas, including tele-health, clean tech and a switch to mass transit.' In 2021, the California Master Plan for Aging set 'five bold goals' to increase affordable housing and improve health, caregiving and economic security for older adults and those with disabilities by 2030. In anticipation of L.A.'s hosting of the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, Metro introduced its 'Twenty-eight by '28' initiative in 2018, outlining more than two dozen transit objectives. The DTLA 2040 plan, adopted by the city in 2023, would add 70,000 housing units and 55,000 jobs over the next 15 years. So how's it all going? The good news: There's been a lot of progress. The bad news: Where to begin? Surely you'll fall over backward when I tell you that funding shortages, politics, evolving priorities, lack of coordination, haphazard and disjointed planning, and less than stellar leadership have stymied progress on many fronts. On homelessness, thousands have been housed and helped thanks to big initiatives and voter-approved resources. But as an observer once described it, we've been managing rather than solving the crisis and essentially bailing a leaky boat with a teaspoon. And now the agency at the helm is in disarray. On climate change, California deserves a big pat on the back for at least acknowledging the crisis and responding with big ideas. But the Trump administration, which is likely to hold steady up to and beyond the point at which Mar-a-Lago is underwater, has all but declared war on the Golden State's good intentions, eliminating funding for key projects and challenging the state's authority. The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with Trump, Congress and fossil fuel companies in opposing the state's ambitions. Meanwhile, a grim analysis last year, which can't be blamed on Trump, said the state would have to triple the pace of progress to reach its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target. As for the law requiring seismic upgrades of hospitals by 2030, as of 2023, nearly two-thirds had yet to complete the required improvements and many had asked for amendments and extensions. L.A.'s Vision Zero, meanwhile, which promised the redesign of high-accident locations and multiple other safety upgrades for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, has been a singular embarrassment. Rather than an elimination of traffic deaths, the number has surged, and an audit released earlier this year serves as an indictment of local leadership. It cited lack of accountability along with 'conflicts of personality, lack of total buy-in for implementation, disagreements over how the program should be administered.' 'Incredibly disappointing,' said Michael Manville, a UCLA professor of urban planning. 'The city remains incredibly dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.' Manville didn't have very high grades, either, for Metro's 28x28 foray. 'It's a joke at this point,' he said, although even though he noted that some progress is undeniable, citing in particular the expected completion of the Purple Line extension to the Westside in time for the Olympics. But many of the 28 original projects won't make the deadline, and oh, by the way, there's no money at the moment to pay for the promised fleet of 2,700 buses for what Mayor Karen Bass has called the transit-first, 'no-car' Olympics. One morning in June, I stood on Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima with L.A. City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. She was looking to the north, in the direction of an empty promise. 'This is the home of the future San Fernando Valley Light Rail,' Rodriguez said. 'It was supposed to be one of the 28 by 28, and we're now looking at probably 2031 to 2032 for its completion … in a community that has a majority dependence … on public transit.' We also visited the site of a proposed Sylmar fire station for which there was a groundbreaking ceremony about two decades ago. Rodriguez said with the adjacent hills turning brown as fire season approaches, Sylmar is long overdue for the station, but the city is hobbled by a massive budget deficit. 'Now I've just got to get the money to build it,' Rodriguez said. Sometimes it seems as if the big goals are designed to redirect our attention from the failures of daily governance. Sure, there's a 10-year wait to get your ruptured sidewalk fixed, but flying taxis are in the works for the Olympics. And one convenient feature of long-term goals is that when 2035 or 2045 rolls around, few may remember who made the promises, or even recall what was promised. In Professor Bremner's vision of a rosier L.A. future, there would be more buses and trains on the lines that serve the Cal State L.A. transit station. She told me she talks to her students about the relationship between climate change and the car culture, and then watches them hustle after night classes to catch a bus that runs on 30-minute intervals or a train that rolls in once an hour. As for the other big promises I mentioned, SmartLA 2028 lays out dozens of laudable but perhaps overly ambitious goals — 'Los Angeles residents will experience an improved quality of life by leveraging technology to meet urban challenges. No longer the 'car capital of the world', residents will choose how they wish to get around LA, using a single, digital payment platform, with choices like renovated Metro rail and bus systems or micro transit choices, such as on-demand LANow shuttles or dockless bicycles.' But in the 50-page strategy document, the word 'challenges' is mentioned quite a bit, and I worry that this particular reference could be the kiss of death: 'City of Los Angeles departments have varying funding sources, missions, and directives, which can inhibit unified, citywide Smart City technology initiatives.' It's a little too soon to know whether the DTLA 2040 goals will rank as vision or hallucination, but downtown is the logical place for high-density residential development and construction cranes are already on the job. As for the Master Plan for Aging, there's been progress but also uncertainty about steady funding streams, particularly given current state budget miseries, and there's no guarantee the plan will be prioritized by future governors. 'Goals are critical,' said Mark Gold, director of water scarcity solutions at the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'But they need to be followed up with implementation plans, with budgets, funding mechanisms, milestones and metrics.' Gold recalls Garcetti's promise in 2019 that all of L.A.'s wastewater would be recycled by 2035. 'That is nowhere close,' said Gold, but two other goals might be within reach. One is to have 70% of L.A.'s water locally sourced by 2035, the other is for 80% of county water to be local by 2045, using increased stormwater capture, recycled wastewater, groundwater remediation and conservation. When he ran Heal the Bay, Gold implemented an annual report card for ocean water quality at various beaches. Maybe we ought to use the same system every time a politician takes a bow for introducing a bold, far-reaching goal. Without the measuring stick, Gold said, 'you end up looking back and saying, 'remember when we were going to do this and that and it never happened?' You have to continuously revisit and grade yourself on how you're doing.' While it's true, Manville said, that 'L.A. seems to be better at kicking off grand plans than seeing them through, that's not unique to Los Angeles.' He cited 'Abundance' as one of several recent books making the case that 'lots of cities in blue states can't seem to get out of their own way.' The failures of virtuous Democrats are indeed on full display in California and beyond. But the other side of the aisle is not without its own sins, beginning with cult-like denial of climate change and, speaking of empty promises, undying devotion to a man who said he would end the war in Ukraine before he took office and bring down grocery prices on Day One. Would you rather live in a state crazy enough to still think it can build a bullet train and outlaw carbon, or in one of the many hurricane-battered states crazy enough to think this is a swell time to get rid of FEMA? If you're reaching for the stars, making it to the moon isn't a bad start.
Axios
05-08-2025
- Axios
The Noblesville Boom's new arena is bigger than basketball
Despite being the home of the Noblesville Boom, The Arena at Innovation Mile doesn't feel much like a sports venue when you step through its glass doors. Why it matters: Mayor Chris Jensen considers that a compliment and the key to the $93 million facility driving the success of the 600-acre Innovation Mile development on Noblesville's east side. The big picture: Introduced during Jensen's 2021 State of the City address, Innovation Mile is expected to be a multipurpose district with the potential to generate $2 billion in revenue over the next 30 years. The Indiana Orthopedic Institute's $35 million flagship facility opened earlier this year as Innovation Mile's first tenant, and The Arena makes two. The city also wants to attract companies in the life sciences, health technologies and advanced manufacturing industries, among others. Zoom in: The event center holds up to 3,500 fans for basketball games and 4,200 for other events, and Jensen wants to make sure the facility is as versatile as the district that houses it. "G League basketball is going to be home here for 40 days out of the year. But you're also going to see concerts in this space. You're going to see conventions in this space. You're gonna see trade shows and other athletics," Jensen said. "We didn't want to back ourselves into a corner." The vibe: The LED and glass-wrapped foyer screams luxury-apartment clubhouse louder than it does basketball gym. Think local nonprofits filling the space with high tables for cocktail-hour fundraisers, or wedding anniversary celebrations being held in the facility's VIP lounge. A trip up the escalator takes visitors to their seats and reveals The Arena's open-air concept, complete with a large window that allows natural light to fill the court. There are uniquely Noblesville nods, like one of the food stands being named Deer Creek Concessions. The intrigue: The Arena gives show bookers another option as the Indianapolis area ups its profile as a top destination for events. Yes, but: The new-arena smell still wafting off of the Fishers Event Center, less than 8 miles away, means The Arena will need to quickly establish its own identity in an increasingly cluttered venue lineup. Zoom out: The Arena is also the best chance the Boom will have to capture more eyeballs. The former Indiana Mad Ants have shared space in Gainbridge with the Pacers and the Fever over the past two seasons, forcing many games to be played on weekday afternoons. Pacers Sports & Entertainment president of business operations Todd Taylor said we can expect to see more prime-time games this year. Fun fact: Jensen said in addition to the team's name being a tribute to Indiana basketball icon Bobby "Slick" Leonard, it is a reference to Noblesville being founded on a natural gas boom.
