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The four-story, 60-unit Griffin Loft Apartments complex is expected to welcome its first residents later this month. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
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4-minute read
From the outside, Lakeland’s Griffin Lofts looks like any other just-built, not-yet-lived-in apartment complex. But some of the people moving into its 60 units in a few weeks will come from tent encampments around the city. Others will arrive with only what they’ve been able to carry after a year or more of being homeless.
Half of its units are “permanent supportive housing” for people coming out of homelessness or living with a disabling condition. The other half are affordable housing for people earning less than 60% of the area median income, said Sandra Newson, Carrfour’s vice president of resident services.
The construction team said they hope to get a certificate of occupancy by the end of the week.
How will residents be chosen? Although the units are the same, the application process is different for the two populations who will live in the building.
Affordable housing units: Carrfour is currently accepting applications for the 30 affordable housing units. To be eligible, applicants must earn less than $32,100 annually for an individual or $45,840 for a family of four. Rents will range from $725 to $1,000 a month for one-bedroom units and from $860 to $1,230 a month for two-bedroom apartments. Newson said Carrfour had received 123 applications as of Tuesday afternoon, but not everyone will qualify so new applicants still have a chance.
Surge of seniors and schoolchildren: Bridget Engleman, executive director of the Homeless Coalition, said there are a lot of misconceptions about unsheltered people in Polk County.
“The stigma for many years is that individuals who are homeless are either addicted to drugs or have mental health issues,” she said. That might be the case for some, “but homelessness has a different face now.”
“It could be the individual sitting right next to you in the church pew or the family you’re seeing out in the park, and you have no idea,” she said. “Our biggest population that we’re seeing grow is the elderly because their Social Security isn’t going up, but rent is. We’re also seeing a lot of families that have school-age kids.”
How to get help
If you are sleeping outside, staying in your car, living in a motel, facing eviction or “doubled up” with family or friends, the Homeless Coalition of Polk County might be able to help.
High need: Engleman said there are about 1,100 people on the coalition’s waiting list. In recent weeks, she’s had many pre-lease meetings with Carrfour to do a “soft sort” of potential residents, considering the stipulations of different grants, the urgency of the client’s need and the likelihood that the person will be successful.
“We follow the ‘housing first’ approach,” Engleman said. The idea is that people need food and a safe place to live before they can benefit from counseling or focus on things like job training or budgeting.
She said most people the Homeless Coalition is referring to Griffin Lofts “have been on our list for at least a year.” However, that shouldn’t discourage anyone in need from filling out the organization’s online questionnaire and getting assessed. The coalition works with a variety of local shelters, group homes and agencies. It is trying to get developers to set aside units in upcoming apartment projects. And there is always turnover.
“When they have someone move out who’s occupying one of our units, they’ll call us and say, ‘Hey, do you have somebody?’”
The four-story Griffin Lofts complex includes 38 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom apartments with many amenities, as well as on-site case managers. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
The complex: Griffin Lofts features 38 615-square-foot one-bedroom apartments and 22 815-square-foot two-bedroom apartments. Like many market-rate buildings, it will have amenities including a gym, a community room with sofas and a television, a laundry room and a library with computer stations. But it will also have an on-site office with several full-time case managers and an employment and training coordinator.
All of the apartments have black appliances and quartz countertops. Some will be pre-furnished for people with no belongings. And 12 are wheelchair accessible with wide doorways, grab bars and shower seats in the bathrooms, lower counters and a second peephole midway down each front door.
Tax incentives and low-interest loans: Griffin Lofts received financing through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC), State Apartment Incentive Loan program (SAIL), the forgivable Extremely Low Income (ELI) Loan program and National Housing Trust Funds (NHTF). The city of Lakeland contributed $685,000 in HOME American Rescue Plan funds as a forgivable loan. It also won a $250,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.
Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy's reporting for LkldNow focuses on Lakeland city government. Previously, she was a crime reporter, City Hall reporter and chief political writer for newspapers including the Albuquerque Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She spent a year as a community engagement coordinator for the City of Lakeland before joining LkldNow in 2023. Reach her at cindy@lkldnow.com or 561-212-3429.
Why isn’t more done for homeless people on the upper Northside, like mid 98? My boyfriend works at Wawa, and they flock to that place to steal…everynight!! One guy pushes a baby stroller, and once a week he steals 2 packs of beer, stroller outside the door, and away he goes to that deadbeat hotel! Employees are not to stop or confront them (and the homeless people know that!)
This store looses 70K a year on theft! If you do a “feel good” story about homeless people getting housing, that’s great.
Now…let’s see you write an article cn the drunks, druggies, and homeless, people that frequent Wawa which makes over 2 million dollars a year serving the good people of Lakeland.
Why isn’t more done for homeless people on the upper Northside, like mid 98? My boyfriend works at Wawa, and they flock to that place to steal…everynight!! One guy pushes a baby stroller, and once a week he steals 2 packs of beer, stroller outside the door, and away he goes to that deadbeat hotel! Employees are not to stop or confront them (and the homeless people know that!)
This store looses 70K a year on theft! If you do a “feel good” story about homeless people getting housing, that’s great.
Now…let’s see you write an article cn the drunks, druggies, and homeless, people that frequent Wawa which makes over 2 million dollars a year serving the good people of Lakeland.