Pensacola is moving forward with plans to donate the former Malcolm Yonge Gym property to the Northwest Florida Community Land Trust for affordable housing.
An agreement negotiated between the city and the Community Land Trust, controlled by Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, calls for nine homes to be built on the property.
The city is also allocating $240,000 in funding to support homebuyer assistance for the nine future homeowners.
Pensacola Habitat for Humanity will be responsible for building the homes, and CEO Sam Young told the City Council these homes will stay affordable for 99 years.
Young said the legal structure of the Land Trust ensures that the home remains affordable for buyers for years to come and is a path to homeownership for those moving into them.
Under the current design, Young said they are estimating the homes will sell at about $210,000.
“Just to give you an example, this home, if these numbers end up holding true, if it appreciates $100,000 in 10 years, the next buyer will be able to buy this home for only $250,000, and that’s assuming it’s appraised at over $500,000,” Young said. That’s a really special model that you can take this one-time subsidy and pass it from generation to generation.”
In 2024, the city of Pensacola tore down the Malcolm Yonge Gym after city officials said the building was unsafe and later selected Northwest Florida Community Land Trust to build the homes.
Over the last two years, the agreement has been under discussion with the city administration, and the Land Trust has already opened three homes on other former city property sites.
Who will qualify for Pensacola’s land trust homes?
The Pensacola City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 9, approved the agreement with the Land Trust that set the target for the Malcolm Yonge property at nine homes that will be affordable for people who make between 80% to 120% of Pensacola’s area median income.
The vote to approve the agreement was 5-1, with Councilman Charles Bare against.
Bare said he supported the land trust and its efforts, but he disagreed with the city’s original decision to close the gym rather than repair it.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development figures show 80% of Pensacola’s area median income for an individual is $54,950, and at 120% of AMI, the number is $82,440.
Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier expressed concern those income levels were high and would put the monthly payment close to market rate.
Young said he doesn’t know how HUD reaches the conclusion it does, and while those are the numbers set in the agreement, he believes the buyers may likely be making less than 80% AMI.
“We believe that we’re going to be able to go lower than 80% how much lower will be dependent on how efficiently we can build and potentially value engineer the design that’s in front of us,” Young said.
Young said he can’t represent exactly what will happen, but if they’re able to keep costs down and with the other homebuying assistant programs, it’s possible that buyers would buy these homes with a $150,000 to $170,000 mortgage.
“We’re working towards that, but I am confident that because of the generosity of the CRA and the city, and the work that we have proven to be able to do, that we are going to be able to get folks in here that would otherwise never have an opportunity to live in the urban core of Pensacola,” Young said.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola OKs nine affordable homes on former Malcolm Yonge Gym site
Reporting by Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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