Lakeland approves plans to demolish affordable housing complex

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Lakeland Housing Authority is one step closer to bringing new affordable housing for seniors to the area.

City commissioners recently approved the agency’s plans for the development, which include demolishing Carrington Place, an affordable multifamily housing complex that has been part of the Lakeland community since the 1970s.

For the past 14 years, resident Sameria Timmons has spent much of her time outside tending to her garden. The front of her apartment may be small, but for Timmons, keeping it tidy is one way she has made Carrington Place feel like home — a home she says she never thought she would be forced to leave.

“For people with kids, what are we supposed to do? I have two jobs and I just can’t up and still leave,” she said. “What about somebody who’s living off of disability because they’re sick, what are they supposed to do?”

The mother of seven is one of many tenants with questions after learning about the Lakeland Housing Authority’s plan to demolish the 40-unit affordable housing complex. While she agrees the community is long overdue for a facelift, she believes current residents should be the ones to benefit from the improvements.

“If (you’re going to) uplift the community with something new, you wouldn’t of made it an old person’s home,” Timmons said. “You would’ve built this and made it back to where we stand. If you want to build something new, you can build something new, but these people have been out here for years. A lot of people have been out here for years. You can at least put us back in the community then.”

Ben Stevenson, president and CEO of the Lakeland Housing Authority, said his team is looking to replace Carrington Place with affordable senior housing to help meet the need in the city’s northwest side. He said the potential project is part of the agency’s 10-year plan, which is expected to bring in more than $200 million in redevelopment.

“We have some other projects to address the multi-family need,” he said. “We said, ‘Let’s go with Carrington Place and make it a senior development,’ because now that the city allows you to go up multiple stories, three/four stories, we think we can do a 100-unit senior complex over there.”

Stevenson said he understands change can be difficult, but his team will do everything they can to help residents relocate. That includes providing a list of housing options.

“And we will try to have a combination of let’s say, relocation vouchers from the federal government,” he said. “We’ll also give relocation assistance like paying their security deposit, transfer fees. Also, provide transportation for the families that want to look at all the apartments.”

In the meantime, Stevenson said the agency has been hosting monthly meetings to keep families informed. But Timmons and her neighbors say that so far, there has only been one.

“So we’re still going to be clueless until they have the second meeting,” she said.

The Lakeland Housing Authority still needs approval from the state of Florida and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) before it can move forward with the project. Stevenson said he expects to break ground at the Carrington Place site within the next year or two.