Table of Experts: Business and civic leaders weigh in on solutions to Tampa Bay's affordable housing challenge

Business Journals

13-05-2025

The Tampa Bay area continues to attract a growing, dynamic, and diverse workforce. But as the population grows, businesses must ensure all employees have an affordable home. Rising housing prices force many people away from workplaces, and long commutes create stress and attrition. Ian Anderson, Publisher and Market President of the Tampa Bay Business Journal, sat down with leaders of local efforts to expand housing options to discuss what steps the community can take to make sure our citizens get to live where they work.
Ian Anderson: Bemetra, the Tampa Bay Partnership has a unique vantage point — especially through the lens of the Regional Competitiveness Report, which many of us rely on. The data shows a strong economy and a growing region, but housing affordability continues to be a major pressure point.
To help kick us off, can you frame the challenge we're discussing today? How does housing affordability impact not just individual households, but the region's overall competitiveness?
Bemetra Simmons: The partnership does extensive research. We publish our annual Competitiveness Report in collaboration with United Way Suncoast and Community Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay is number one in net immigration. We're a safe community to build a business. Women- and minority owned businesses are thriving.
But affordability is an Achilles heel. All eight of our counties are growing, though not at the same rate. But our rural counties are growing faster because that's where people can afford to live. Wages have been rising over the last three years, but not at the same rate as housing prices, and residents are spending 55 cents of every dollar they earn on housing and transportation alone. We'd like to see that number be closer to 30 cents on the dollar, so housing and transportation are issues 1 and 1A on the docket.
Cynthia, we were just discussing a recent large employer relocation. How often does affordable housing come up in conversations around recruiting, retention, or companies looking to grow in Pinellas County?
Cynthia Johnson: Recruiting local talent is never the issue, but the lack of affordable housing is hurting our entry and mid-level workers. Even at the executive level, housing options aren't there. If you move to the suburbs, a 20-minute commute can turn into 90 minutes, and that impacts retention.
If employees are spending over 50 percent of their income on housing and transportation, that takes away from their discretionary income to enjoy their homes. With childcare costs, it's really hindering our ability to retain talent.
We're seeking innovative ways to increase wages. In Pinellas County, the average annual wage is $65,000. That's not going to satisfy the needs of a family of four. We have to innovate with employers to provide some housing solutions.
John, when it comes to your workforce, how do you view housing affordability — especially for support staff, nurses, and care providers who need to live near their workplace? How does this impact retention in those critical roles?
John Couris: TGH is the region's and the City of Tampa's largest private employer. Seven years ago, we employed about 7,500 team members and provided; today, we're at 15,000 and have grown from Tampa General to the TGH USF Health academic health system. It's great that we're growing thanks to the region doing well, but as more people look to move here, the reality is that it is getting more expensive. This, in turn, makes it difficult for a nurse, tech, or resident to live near the facilities where they work.
To support our team members and ensure access to the work-class talent, we're taking on workforce housing and building 170 units on five acres of land in Brandon, eight miles from our main campus, for our team members and residents. Additionally, we will provide shuttle services to and from the main campus. We believe this model makes sense from a market and financial perspective, but most importantly, it will help recruit, support and retain people.
AT TGH, we're completely transparent and happy to share our business model with anyone who wants to learn more. We don't see this as a competition to see who can break into the market, but a chance to provide something valuable to the community and the conversation. It's one thing to complain about the lack of available workforce housing. It's another to jump in and help. Maybe we'll become a catalyst for others to collaborate.
Mike, with a challenge this big, it's not about choosing one solution — it takes partnerships and multiple approaches. Habitat Tampa Bay Gulfside is one of the largest affiliates in the country, building 90 homes this year. What are some of the common misconceptions you hear — from business leaders or others — about the homes you're building and who they're for?
Mike Sutton: We're building 90 homes this year, a drop in the bucket when you look at the problem. There's a lot of confusion around affordable housing. Florida has underbuilt affordable homes for decades so now we're in this crisis where there's no way to build out of it. Everyone's looking for that silver bullet.
TGH is leading the charge, and we need more of that. Oftentimes business leaders don't want to have the conversation, because they're afraid of being perceived as not paying enough.
For Habitat, the families we serve are folks who work with all of us. They're a family of four making $80,000 a year, who can't qualify for a home with a starting price of $500,000. Businesses can still pay a great salary to employees who can't afford housing at those prices, but it's hard for business leaders to talk about how affordable housing affects the people they employ.
Melissa, in today's inflationary environment, many residents are making tough choices about which bills to pay — and housing costs are a big part of that. What are you seeing from your customers, and how is Duke Energy working to make energy more affordable?
Melissa Seixas: Utilities like electric, water, and stormwater add to that pressure on the dollar. I've grown up in this business since I was 19. Interacting with customers has always been a part of my job. We can sit around a fancy boardroom and talk about what customers need, but we must hear it from them.
I was at an entrepreneurial pitch event in Clearwater, where a small business owner said he'd sold his truck to ensure his small team got paid. I walked out of there with my team and said, 'those are our customers, making those decisions.'
We provide a menu of options for customers to help and support them. Even small things can empower people. Fans cool people, not rooms. Turn off the fans when you leave your house and save energy. It adds up. We offer free home energy checks, so customers can come to us first before paying for an outside audit.
We also work with nonprofit organizations like the United Way or Tampa Bay 211 to help customers keep the power on. Our own program, 'Share The Light,' lets customers and employees donate and we match their contribution to help people pay for any utility, not just electrical. In some places in North Florida, it's even used for firewood.
Customers are encouraged to call us if they're concerned, and not just get the bill and be shocked. We can make installment plans and suit our solution to what each customer needs.
Scott, how have rising housing costs impacted your ability to recruit and retain talent — from technicians to sales and frontline employees — in such a tight labor market?
Scott Fink: As a private capital employer, we overpay because we can afford to take a smaller margin on our ROI to take care of our employees. When I moved to Florida 35 years ago, housing costs here were only 65% of the costs in New York, where I'm from. Now it's up to 90%, but the wages still aren't close. There used to be an enormous benefit to living here, where people made a little less money but had more disposable income. Now people find themselves moving further away until the commute becomes unbearable.
Bemetra, do you think Tampa Bay at risk of losing its competitive edge?
Simmons: I don't think we're at risk, but we must solve this issue, and we need cross-sector partnerships to do that. This is not going to be solved solely by the business community or our elected officials.
A few people have mentioned commutes. Over 200,000 residents have an hour-plus commute without the aid of public transportation. Reading a book or getting work done on a bus or train versus being stuck in traffic can affect employee happiness. So, if we can't get together to solve this issue, we'll risk falling behind.
Sutton: We talk a lot about the migration into Florida, but no one is really talking about migration out of Florida. And the people leaving the state or our region are the working class. The folks all our companies rely on can no longer afford to live here.
We need solutions to anchor people in the community. I always go back to home ownership because there's still no better way to build wealth in the United States than through owning a home. We need to find ways to help bring people out of their current situation, where they're paying 60 or 70 percent of their monthly income towards rent, and get them into something affordable that keeps them in the community long-term and also lets them invest in their future and their children's future through wealth building. Otherwise, we're going to keep seeing a mass exodus of people leaving our region and our state.
John, was there a moment when you decided not to wait on public policy and instead take action on affordable housing yourself? What led you to step into what you've called 'the affordable housing business'?
Couris: Well, first of all, the state, county, and city have been very supportive, and it's been a true collaboration. It ties to the Live Local Act that was passed in Tallahassee. We endorse their vision and strategy and it's been a great collaboration. It's one thing to say we need to do a better job with affordable housing and transportation, and another to roll up your sleeves and be a true partner in helping to solve the problem.
We believe in our communities and want to be involved even if we don't directly benefit from the results. You have to be willing to give of yourself for the greater good of your neighbors.
Other organizations and business leaders can learn from us—from what we've done well, our fumbles and the challenges we have overcome. If our 170-unit workforce housing is successful and inspires other business to do the same, it could move the housing needle in this region. That's why we're an open book about our plans and what we are trying to accomplish. We want to engage the community. It's a big tent strategy.
Fink: Just to comment on that, I serve on the board of Metropolitan Ministries, where the mission is transitional housing. When we got started, people could transition into the community. But now they have nowhere to go because they're not making enough money.
So, we partnered with Blue Star and built affordable housing units, not only for the residents but for people transferring out into the community at large. That public-private partnership with state support has made a material difference.
Johnson: I'll add that our citizens are a part of the solution because of the 'Penny for Pinellas tax. In 2020, our citizens decided to use a portion of that penny tax to support housing and economic development. That gave us over $90 million to create housing options.
We work with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, and with developers to create affordable workforce housing that suits the diverse needs of our community. The county has dedicated over $35 million towards housing projects, and we work with developers who are committed to creating affordable housing.
Across the county, we've invested over $100 million in housing options for the residents, including a creative project St. Petersburg is doing with the Pinellas County School Board to create housing that's affordable, so teachers and first responders can live in the communities where they work.
The Tampa Bay region is paying attention, and this issue is not on the back burner. That shows our readiness to innovate. Our industries have stepped up, so we put together multiple ways to share their insight and resources.
That collective, inventive approach is how we will solve this regional problem and turn it into a local opportunity.
Mike, from a policy standpoint, what zoning or regulatory changes would most help you scale homeownership solutions across Tampa Bay — not just in Pinellas, but also in West Pasco and Hernando as you expand?
Sutton: Take Pinellas County for example. We have 26 municipalities, and that's 26 different ways of doing things. We've worked to create a housing compact all the municipalities can sign but haven't gotten past drafting the agreement.
As a developer, it's tough bouncing between municipalities as rules change. The process can drag on, and time is money, even in the nonprofit sector. The Live Local Act is great but it's 100 percent rental focused. Nothing provides that sort of relief to organizations like Habitat for Humanity that focus on home ownership. Live Local was the largest investment in affordable housing ever in Florida, yet too often, landmark legislation is seen as the finish line, when in reality it should be a foundation to build on. We've made great progress, but the work isn't done.
If not for the amazing partnership with the counties and the municipalities where we work, we wouldn't be able to make a difference. So, I agree, we need that public-private alliance to move the needle on affordable home ownership.
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Melissa, What role can a utility provider play in cross-sector partnerships to make housing more attainable and boost economic mobility in Tampa Bay?
Seixas: Being absolutely immersed in the community is paramount. Sit on boards, forge long-term partnerships, or just pick up the phone and ask for help. Loaning time and talent makes an undeniable difference.
Our economic development team focuses on nothing but recruiting companies and creating jobs in Florida. They've worked closely with the county on site readiness, looking at everything from transportation to education and the workforce. Over the last 20 years, Duke Energy has helped participate in recruitment for about 345 different businesses, filling over 50,000 jobs.
It's not about bringing in businesses that are going to use more energy but being part of a solution that creates benefits across the board, and one thing our area does well is engagement and collaboration with nonprofits.
Bemetra, as your members include many of the region's largest employers, what role do you think the business community should play in addressing housing affordability — beyond philanthropy or charity?
Simmons: The reason we say investors and not members is because these people and businesses are investing in our region, in what we're going to look like 20 years from now. We need business leaders to invest their time, talent, and voice into helping us meet our goals.
Advocacy is a big part of this. We got a grant last year from JPMorgan Chase to do a housing needs assessment for our three most populous counties: Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough. This report is going to tell us how many units we need based on the growth rate of each county, broken down by industry.
Say a cyber security analyst makes a certain amount of money. We know what they can afford in Pasco, and whether they'd do better in other areas. What we're hoping for is to provide data that encourages investors with managerial courage to ask our elected officials for the policy changes we need.
What steps can we take to overcome the misconception that affordable housing is low-income housing?
Couris: My wife and I met in college and were products of the affordable housing program in Boston. They helped people who would never have been able to live in the city without support. I never would have been able to commute to Massachusetts General as a young administrator without access to income-based housing.
When business leaders say, 'We don't want to be involved in low-income housing' because of stigma, it's important to remember how important affordable housing is for their businesses. Eventually, we're going to pay for this if we don't figure it out.
Simmons: Our report is going to list the cost of inaction — what happens if we don't do anything, which I think will have a big impact on readers.
Seixas: That kind of data is incredibly valuable to fill in the picture for business leaders who think this is not necessarily their issue.
Fink: This issue is nothing new. I grew up in the projects in Brooklyn. My parents moved into a rent-controlled apartment in 1941. And it was rent controlled because New York needed the workforce — and this was almost 100 years ago.
What steps other than building more housing can we take to make living in the Tampa Bay area more affordable?
Couris: What we really want to teach is financial resiliency so people can buy their own homes. We could have banks provide incentives or have organizations like Duke provide free financial management classes to teach ways to be more financially savvy.
Simmons: To really help people be financially stable, we need higher wages in the region. At some point, if you're only making $70,000 a year and the average home price costs $400,000, no amount of training and financial savvy can make those numbers work. So, while we're solving the housing crisis, we should also work on getting more skilled jobs into the region and improving pay.
Johnson: How can we foster an environment where employers want to invest? We can create more citizens with the income to live in our community. As we do that, we can also work with the city partners, the nonprofits, and other developers to create an environment where over 2,500 employees make an average wage of $110,000. These are the kinds of jobs we want in our community; and we need to position our housing options for those sorts of opportunities.
Housing is an ecosystem rooted in resilience, workforce, availability of homes, economic development, quality of life, the desire to invest, and the need to grow our families. Community engagement is so important because we're all drinking the same water.
Seixas: We all need line personnel. The people who step into those roles and get the proper training are making well over six figures a year, either with a high school diploma or by transitioning from the military and similar organizations. We partnered with the Urban League to create a certification program that now sports a waiting list of over 300 people, and it's been duplicated all over the state. You can create high-wage jobs for people already in the community. Even if they go work elsewhere, we're paying it forward. You provide the help because one day you'll need the help.
Sutton: Upskilling is huge in the Tampa Bay area, but it's not the only thing. We have 150 families in our pipeline at Habitat, and about 30% are schoolteachers. And 51% of the families in our program are in the healthcare industry. So, while upskilling and getting folks into higher-paying jobs is vital, we also must find a way to keep indispensable workers like teachers and health professionals in our community.
Johnson: We need diverse housing options. If our teachers, first responders, CEOs, and mid-level managers all have homes, we've created an environment that will thrive and be a model for what real home ownership access looks like.
Sutton: People are concerned about investors buying up the inventory at $500,000 and below. The Red Rocks and Vanguards of the world are buying blocks of neighborhoods at a time, even in places like Clearwater Beach after the storms, where people are unloading homes, they can't return to. That's created a huge issue from a home ownership standpoint.
Couris: Medical research is doing well in Tampa. We have lots of assets in the city, and we're attracting businesses in the region. When we travel to recruit, people are very interested in transportation. In Dubai and Japan, one of the main questions when we speak is, 'What does infrastructure look like and how do people move around?'
Imagine if we had a light rail that went to Wesley Chapel. Suddenly, living in a less expensive community than South Tampa would be more feasible because one could jump on a train and be at their job within 30 minutes.
Simmons: We have eight counties and seven transportation planning organizations. So, it's tough to come up with a plan that works for everyone. Buses are not sexy, but how much of a difference would it make in our region if a rapid bus could take you from Pinellas to Pasco to Hillsborough?
Couris: Not only can transportation help the affordable housing crisis, but it also sets us up for the future as you start building real resilience in the region. Additionally, as we compete globally, companies are more likely to support businesses that are specifically very interested in infrastructure and transportation.
Mike, in closing, how are you partnering with businesses to solve this crisis and what do successful partnerships look like?
Sutton: Habitat is just one solution to help with affordable housing. I always joke that if you've seen one Habitat organization, you've seen exactly one Habitat organization. They're all different in their own ways. The one that I obviously represent, we've moved away from the traditional Habitat model of doing repairs and rehabs, and we don't run a retail operation anymore. We closed our Restores and are 100% focused on new home construction because we feel like that's where we can make the biggest impact, and we'll continue to do that with support from the dedicated companies and municipalities in Tampa Bay.
At Habitat, we need access to employees of employers. When we come in, employers worry we'll make it look like they're not paying their workforce enough. Once we break down the misconceptions about the work we do, we're able to shift their perceptions and they're very eager to help.
We have some amazing partnerships where we've been able to recruit quite a few employees into homes. It builds long-term loyalty with those employees, and a culture of corporate responsibility that really helps businesses thrive.