There are plenty of affordable housing developments popping up across the U.S., but few are as accessible to homeowners as Terrace House.
Owner/developer John Williams built the historic building with the intention of offering a range of housing options, ranging from studio apartments to two-bedroom condos, for $1,500 to $4,000 per month.
The building was built in 1913 and is listed for $2.9 million.
Williams says he has a number of other projects in the works, including a luxury hotel and condo project in downtown Orlando.
“The more people who can afford to live in the city, the more people want to move here, and the more affordable housing becomes available, the better,” Williams said.
Williams says that, at its peak, he had about 1,500 apartments available for sale in the area.
Now, the Terrace house sits vacant, and with the housing market so expensive, the neighborhood is slowly dying.
One resident, Tanya Staley, was looking for a place to live and find one of the few options in her area.
She said it wasn’t until she moved in to the Terracas that she noticed how affordable it was.
“When I first came to town, it was a little rough around the edges, and it was just really hard to get anywhere,” Staley said.
“Then when I started to move in here, I saw the people and saw the community, and everything just kind of came together.”
Williams said he believes Terrace is a prime example of the kind of housing the region needs.
He said that the city is facing a housing shortage in the areas where the houses are being built.
It’s not just the housing, Williams said, but the infrastructure that’s needed for affordable housing.
“We need more parks, more green space, and we need more greenways for walking and biking and walking, which are the most important ways to make this city more affordable,” Williams told the Orlando Sentinel.
In addition to the residential units, Williams has also partnered with the City of Orlando to build the Tercie House Park, which he said is designed to provide a pathway for people to connect with nature and create connections with the community.
Williams said the park is a perfect fit for the neighborhood.
“I feel like if I could build it in the backyard, I would be doing something that I would like to see all over the city,” Williams explained.
And Williams says that he hopes the neighborhood’s residents will continue to embrace the neighborhood and stay.
I really feel like, if you look at the people that live in Terrace, they are so open, they don’t need any pressure from anyone, he said.