JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As housing costs continue to rise locally and nationwide, Jacksonville is taking its affordability fight global.
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The city has been selected as one of just 32 cities worldwide to participate in the European Union’s EU Cities Gateway program, an international initiative focused on solving shared housing challenges. Over the next three years, Jacksonville will collaborate with cities across the United States, Canada and Europe to exchange ideas and develop new approaches to attainable housing.
“Jacksonville will be partnering with other U.S. cities, Canadian cities and, importantly, European Union cities to talk about affordability and housing issues in large cities,” said Colin Tarbert, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority. “Everyone’s dealing with this challenge, and we want to learn what’s working elsewhere.”
Jacksonville is part of the program’s Affordable and Attainable Housing cluster, alongside Laval and Toronto in Canada; Atlanta; Tampere, Finland; Barcelona, Spain; and Parma, Italy. Tarbert recently traveled to Toronto as part of the collaboration.
“It’s really informational in terms of understanding what’s happening beyond the city limits of Jacksonville,” he said.
City leaders say the international partnership comes at a critical time, as downtown Jacksonville prepares for major growth. Planned projects include a new billion-dollar “Stadium of the Future,” a Four Seasons hotel and the area’s first Publix grocery store as part of the Gateway Jax Pearl Street development.
While the investment is expected to bring jobs and new activity downtown, it also raises concerns about rising rents and the risk of pricing out workers.
“In most downtowns that are growing — and Jacksonville is certainly on that trajectory — affordability can quickly become an issue where folks that work downtown can’t afford to live downtown,” Tarbert said. “Our goal is really to have a downtown that’s for everyone.”
Tarbert said growth driven primarily by luxury housing and high-end development can leave service workers with few nearby housing options.
“When you have hotels, restaurants and venues, the folks working there might not be earning a high wage or high enough to live in a luxury apartment building,” he said. “If all you have is luxury housing, those folks don’t have anywhere to live downtown.”
Through the EU Cities Gateway program, Jacksonville will participate in study visits, workshops and ongoing collaboration aimed at testing new housing models. The city also plans to develop a pilot project focused on attainable housing that could eventually be implemented locally.
“We want neighborhoods of all income levels to have diversity and that real, authentic neighborhood feel,” Tarbert said. “Not just an enclave for people who can afford the highest rent.”