Mayor: City of Tampa closes in on building 10,000 affordable homes

The City of Tampa is nearing Mayor Jane Castor’s goal of creating 10,000 affordable homes during her time in office — and she is taking something of a victory lap.  

To date, approximately 4,100 affordable units have been completed, with another 4,000 units in active development stages, say city officials. Castor was initially elected mayor in April 2019; she was re-elected in 2023. Her current term ends in May 2027, and she is prevented, due to term limits, from serving a third term.  

Since 2019, more than 23,000 residences have been added to the city’s affordable housing inventory, the city says in a statement, with more than 8,300 affordable housing units either completed or currently under construction. The city has invested more than $100 million in affordable housing initiatives and housing assistance programs in that time frame.

“Our approach to affordable housing has never been one-dimensional,” Castor says in the release. “It’s about creating new housing opportunities, supporting developments in the pipeline, and helping residents stay safely and affordably in their homes as they age."

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Major redevelopment projects, such as Rome Yards, West River, Marquee Square and North Downtown, are reshaping housing opportunities throughout the city, the release says. At the Army/Navy redevelopment site in north Downtown, more than 1,100 housing units will be built, with more than 700 of those secured for income-eligible households. 

But the mayor’s affordable housing plan does not only rely on new construction — it also includes efforts to preserve existing homes. 

Castor and members of her administration gathered Wednesday at the home of East Tampa resident Carlton Mallard to celebrate such efforts. Mallard was recently able to return to his home at 3302 Chipco Street — the same house his father purchased in 1950 — after the property received more than $147,000 in renovations through the city’s Housing Rehabilitation and Renovation Program, the release says. 

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For decades, Mallard lived in the home without air conditioning and relied on boiling water for baths. In 2025, electrical issues left him without power for four months after a blown fuse, and much of the work completed on the home over the years never received the necessary permits. 

Today, his home has been fully transformed.

“Now Carlton Mallard can finally obtain homeowners' insurance and continue living safely in the neighborhood his family has called home for generations,” Abbye Feeley, administrator for Development and Economic Opportunity for the City of Tampa, says in the release. “This is what housing affordability looks like in practice.”

Mallard’s home rehabilitation project included installation of a new roof, hurricane-impact windows and doors and an updated electrical system, as well as a complete plumbing replacement, bathroom renovations, new flooring and cabinets, lead paint remediation, HEPA cleaning of all surfaces and the installation of air conditioning and a hot water tank, the release says. 

The HRRP Program offers income-qualified Tampa homeowners financial assistance to repair and maintain safe homes — an effort city officials say is critical to ensuring longtime Tampa residents are not left behind as the city continues to grow. The HRRP program is set to accept more applications beginning in mid-June through the city of Tampa’s online portal.