A $25.1 million federal grant will replace 180 public housing units at Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows with about 500 mixed-income homes in east Gainesville.
The Gainesville Housing Authority and the City of Gainesville have won a $25,115,577 federal grant to rebuild the Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows public housing properties in east Gainesville.
The two sites have 180 units today. The plan would replace them with about 500 new townhomes and apartments for a mix of incomes. The grant also covers the surrounding East University Avenue neighborhood.
The money is a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city and the housing authority announced it Tuesday, in a joint release on the city’s website. They said HUD told them in a letter dated Sept. 3.
Gainesville was one of four communities chosen nationwide in this round, the release said. It did not name the other three.
What the plan includes
According to the release, the plan includes:
- the rebuilding of Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows, from 180 units to about 500 townhomes and apartments
- relocation help for current households, before construction begins
- community and youth programs over the grant’s eight-year term, which the city plans to back at the Eastside Community Center, Morningside Nature Center and the ELITE Force Training Center at Pine Meadows
“This is a complete transformation of Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows,” said Pamela Davis, the housing authority’s chief executive. “It’s what our community asked for throughout the planning process.”
What happens to people who live there now
The release said housing authority staff plan to meet with residents of both properties. They will provide relocation help “to help each household find housing that fits their needs before construction begins.”
The release did not give a construction start date, a phasing plan or the number of households living there now. It did not say whether current residents will have a right to move back into the new homes.
It said residents “continue to help shape the work” and that “educational programs will remain accessible.”
“I hope the new housing will include something for everyone,” said Alberta Ford, a longtime Pine Meadows resident. She listed a computer center for seniors, playgrounds and a day care center for working parents.
Part of a wider east Gainesville push
The application followed two years of planning, after the city and housing authority won a Choice Neighborhoods planning grant in 2023.
The release listed east Gainesville projects still to come:
- the Regional Transit System’s Eastside Transfer Station on Hawthorne Road
- the NE Eighth Avenue and Waldo Road, Citizens Field redevelopment project
- the new Fire Station 3, under construction on NE Eighth Avenue
- more homes in the mixed-income Heartwood community
It also named the UF Health Urgent Care Center, Eastside, built with Alachua County and UF Health.
“This will be leveraged into far more than $25 million, and some of the effects can already be seen,” Mayor Harvey Ward said.
Ward said the partners had agreed “with or without the grant, we were moving forward.” He said the work is centered on Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows but “will be positively transformative for all of east Gainesville and across our city.”
The national picture
HUD’s grants in this round total more than $100 million, the release said. Across all the winners, they will replace 726 distressed public housing units with 1,446 new mixed-income units.
What it means for you
- If you live at Lake Terrace or Pine Meadows, nothing changes yet. The housing authority says staff will meet with each household about relocation before any construction starts. The Gainesville Housing Authority is the contact.
- If you live nearby on East University Avenue, the grant covers the wider neighborhood too, not only the two properties.
- Building plans for the new homes will go through the city’s review. Our building permits and zoning page explains how to follow them.
- For prices and rents across the city, see our home prices page.
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