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Tommytown To Get New Houses

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By LAURA KINSLER

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

Published: November 30, 2008

DADE CITY - The very idea of a deed-restricted neighborhood in Tommytown, long known for poverty, dirt roads and crime, once seemed laughable.

But three and a half years after a nonprofit community development corporation bought 25 acres just north of Lock Street, Sunset Hills is a reality.

The development will offer first-time homebuyers a chance to purchase affordable homes in a neighborhood with paved streets, underground utilities, sidewalks and a 1-acre park.

"They're awesome homes - they don't look like affordable communities at all," said Earl Pfeiffer, executive director of Florida Home Partnership. "They could easily be market-rate homes. We have covered porches and lanais, garages and more square footage."

The community development corporation, known as Tampa Bay CDC, teamed up with Florida Home Partnership to develop the 64-home neighborhood on 21st Street. Florida Home Partnership plans to open a sales office in Tommytown on Monday and hopes to start construction on a model home by February.

Based in south Hillsborough County, the nonprofit Florida Home Partnership has been offering affordable homes in rural areas since 1993. Using low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida Home Partnership already has built communities in Ruskin and Wimauma. Sunset Hills is the organization's first venture into Pasco County.

Each homebuyer contributes 600 hours of "sweat equity" on the homes in lieu of making a down payment. The USDA subsidizes the mortgages based on the buyer's income. Some buyers pay as little as 1 percent interest on a 33-year, fixed-rate loan.

Florida Home Partnership usually builds six to 10 homes at a time, and the buyers work together on each others' homes. They may be asked to perform tasks such as painting, caulking, laying sod and removing debris.

It takes around seven months to complete the homes. By the time the owners move in, they already know their neighbors.

"We anticipate starting our first group in March, as soon as we get some qualified buyers," Pfeiffer said.

Pasco County has already made a huge investment in hopes of erasing Tommytown's blight. The county's redevelopment office has demolished substandard homes and renovated or rebuilt more than 100 homes in the impoverished community, which is 90 percent Mexican-American.

"You can go in and do infill construction, but that doesn't help turn around an area," Pfeiffer said. "You move into your brand-new house, and you're still looking at what's across the street."

Sunset Hills, on the contrary, will have a homeowners' association to enforce strict guidelines. "No chickens, roosters or goats," Pfeiffer said. "And they're going to make sure people mow their lawns."

Junk cars and couches on porches - eyesores that are common in the rest of Tommytown - will be prohibited in Sunset Hills.

The new approach goes hand in hand with the county's efforts to improve the quality of life in Tommytown.

Pasco County completed a $3 million paving project for the southern portion of Tommytown. In January, work will commence on a $10 million project to improve drainage, install city water and sewer service and pave the remaining dirt roads.

The Florida Department of Transportation will begin installing a sidewalk on Lock Street this week. And TECO will be erecting streetlights in the neighborhood.

Florida Home Partnership plans to build 40 homes in Sunset Hills. Tampa Bay CDC plans to build and sell the remaining 24 homes.

FOR INFORMATION

WHAT: Florida Home Partnership sales office

WHERE: 15029 14th St., Dade City

CONTACT: www.FLhome.org or (352) 521-0686

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844.

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