The City of Gainesville and the Gainesville Housing Authority (GHA) have been awarded a $25.1 million Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) Implementation Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The money will transform GHA’s Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows properties and the surrounding East University Avenue neighborhood. Gainesville is one of just four communities nationwide selected for the competitive grant, which supports redeveloping distressed public housing and creating mixed-income communities. Mayor Harvey L. Ward and GHA CEO Pamela Davis received official notice of the award in a Sept. 3 letter from HUD.
The award caps a two-year planning process in East Gainesville. It began in 2023, when HUD awarded GHA and the city a CNI Planning Grant to develop a comprehensive neighborhood transformation plan. Through extensive public engagement, residents and community members set priorities for housing, transportation, economic opportunity, public spaces, services and neighborhood revitalization.
“This is a complete transformation of Lake Terrace and Pine Meadows, growing from 180 units to approximately 500 new townhomes and apartments for a mix of incomes,” said GHA CEO Pamela Davis. “It’s what our community asked for throughout the planning process. Our residents set the vision, and this grant gives us the resources to make it real for our families and for all of East Gainesville.”
City leaders expect the grant’s impact to reach well beyond its dollar amount.
“This will be leveraged into far more than $25 million, and some of the effects can already be seen. It will be positively transformative for all of east Gainesville and across our city,” said Mayor Ward.
The grant builds on Gainesville’s continuing investment in East Gainesville. That work includes establishing the Eastside Health and Economic Development Initiative (EHEDI) and partnering with Alachua County and UF Health to build the UF Health Urgent Care Center – Eastside. Still to come are the planned Regional Transit System Eastside Transfer Station on Hawthorne Road, the NE Eighth Avenue and Waldo Road – Citizens Field Redevelopment Project, the new Fire Station 3 now under construction on NE Eighth Avenue, and additional homes in the mixed-income Heartwood community, among other housing projects.
“I am proud of the partnership and the work of our collective team to bring this transformative opportunity to our residents,” said Gainesville Interim City Manager Andrew Persons.
The investment goes beyond buildings. During the eight-year grant term, the city also plans to support more community and youth programs at the Eastside Community Center, Morningside Nature Center and the ELITE Force Training Center at Pine Meadows. Residents are already looking ahead to what the changes will bring.
“I’m excited about the changes to come,” said longtime Pine Meadows resident Alberta Ford. “I hope the new housing will include something for everyone–a computer center for seniors, playgrounds for the kids and a daycare center for working parents.”
