Punta Gorda City Council Members were briefed on possible solutions to the city’s affordable housing shortage Friday. Hurricane Charley 2 years ago pummeled Punta Gorda taking out close to 300 affordable housing units. There’s been a flurry of construction since then – but most of the new housing is classified as upscale as opposed to workforce. Punta Gorda’s Urban Design Manager David Hilston says options up for consideration include setting up an urban land trust.

“plus the land trust comes into play in that we can reduce the cost of the home by pulling out the value of the land thereby making it affordable.”

The city is also taking ideas for ways to provide more affordable on at it’s website – www.PuntaGorda.fl.us.

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There’s a flurry of building go on in and around Punta Gorda these days. One of Hurricane Charley’s legacies is many empty lots. But luxury homes are going up where modestly priced homes once stood. The city’s urban design manager, David Hilston is looking for ways to encourage developers to build affordable housing. He’ll present strategies for that at today’s City Council meeting – including ways to promote mixed use construction.

“how can we incorporate mixed use into new projects coming in and how can we provide inclusionary zoning that would be a functional mix of high end middle and low end housing”

Punta Gorda lost about 300 units of affordable housing to Hurricane Charley. Part of that was public housing. Funding is now in place for the Punta Gorda Housing Authority to begin construction on 80 new units.