A tiny-house community of affordable homes for seniors and veterans opened just north of Lakeland Square mall Wednesday. It’s the Lakeland Housing Authority’s first new housing development in 18 years | Here’s a cool aerial view.
A four-prong attempt to reduce homelessness in Lakeland kicks off in January after city commissioners decided 4-3 Friday to fund it with $190,000 in red-light camera fines that had been held in reserve. The package has the backing of the Polk Homeless Coalition and the major local non-profits that serve the homeless, Mayor Bill Mutz said.
A $25 million skilled nursing center planned for north Lakeland’s Lake Gibson Village is a “pivotal piece” in “building out the entire continuum of care” for senior residents, CEO Renee Tucker said. The facility on nine acres purchased by Greystone Healthcare Management of Tampa is expected to open in 2020.
Two Lakeland leaders with a passion to reduce homelessness shared their visions for the paths forward with a crowd of 450 tonight at a Gospel Inc. “friend raiser.” For Mayor Bill Mutz, it was a goal of a city government working alongside social service agencies to lead the transitional homeless into housing and productive lives. For Brian Seeley, founder of Gospel Inc., it was a night to introduce his vision of Gospel Town, a tiny-house community supporting the chronic homeless.
A three-story subsidized senior apartment building under construction marks the first phase of the transformation of West Lake Apartments into Twin Lake Estates, named for its location between lakes Beulah and Hunter. The next two phases include both subsidized and market-rate apartments and townhouses housing about 320 families, triple the current capacity | Renderings: Phase 1, Phase 2
Mayor Bill Mutz is convinced that four steps recommended by a local steering committee will significantly reduce homelessness in Lakeland. On Friday morning, he tried to convince his colleagues on the City Commission that the plan needs the city’s financial backing, but several of them questioned whether government should take the lead on the homeless issue.
Explorations V was named the anchor institution at the private Bonnet Springs Park planned for 160 vacant acres west of downtown, LakelandMom reports. The children’s museum expects to move in two to three years to its new space from its current location in the Kress Building on Kentucky Avenue across from Munn Park.
Benjamin Stevenson, director of the Lakeland Housing Authority, said he thought the insect problem at Renaissance at Washington Ridge had been solved and was surprised when ABC Action News reported otherwise this week. He also said some of the senior residents contribute to the problem through hoarding, dumpster diving and other uncleanly habits.
