Three Parcels of Land Being Considered by Lake Wales CRA for Affordable Housing
by James Coulter
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted unanimously to table the discussion of donating three parcels of land for redevelopment into affordable housing.
At their meeting on Tues. Aug. 13, Lake Wales CRA board members discussed a request to sell three parcels of land to a non-profit housing agency for redevelopment into affordable housing.
The three parcels of land considered are located a 1130 Dr. M. L. K. Jr Blvd., 315 Dorsett Ave., and 517 B. Greenview Terrace.
Had the request been approved, the land would have been donated to The Real Estate Foundation, a non-profit housing agency and affordable housing developer whose mission is “to create wealth and abundance for all.”
“Established in 2022, the Real Estate Foundation has provided families in Hillsborough and Polk County with housing counseling, credit counseling, down payment assistance, and affordable housing,” wrote City Manager James Slaton.
CRA Board members voted 4-1 to table discussion of the donation and to have Jeff Bagwell, Executive Director of the Keystone Challenge Fund, which had partnered with the city to provide affordable housing, coordinate with the Real Estate Foundation in an advisory capacity.
Alexis Monroe, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation, has been working with her organization and the city over the past two months to make sure they can build affordable housing.
Furthermore, she and her organization have been reaching out to the local community through speaking engagements and involvement with real estate and Bible studies. She has also worked to help improve the credit of a few residents.
“We can all work together to help with the affordable housing crisis,” she said. “We have built 31 homes. We have wealth and abundance, and if we continue with that mission, it will be done.”
Earlier that evening, the CRA Board voted 4-1 to increase the down payment assistance (DPA) for affordable housing from $20,000 to $40,000 to match increased construction costs and interest rates. That agenda item led to a discussion about whether the city should focus on assisting current residents over potential residents moving to the city.
Pristina Keybold, another representative with the Real Estate Foundation, took umbrage with these negative comments. She claims she wants to help the Lake Wales community, even to the point of moving there with her family. That is how much she cares about the city, she said.
“When we say we are here to serve the community, we mean the state of Florida,” she said. “The state of Florida is in a crisis, and Lake Wales is in the state of Florida. We do have the capacity to love more than just the people we see daily. That is what makes us human. That gives us the capacity to care.”
“I had the ability to house more than 250 homeless people in the area,” she said. “It did not matter where they came from. It only mattered that every citizen had a home. We will still continue to provide services in Northwest Lake Wales because we care.”
