Tampa's latest affordable housing project, the Boulevards at West River, opens 371 family units this week. When completed, the complex will offer more than 500 units of family housing.
Most tenants will pay 30% or less of their income for the downtown-adjacent apartments.
Leroy Moore, senior vice president of the Tampa Housing Authority, said the complex is conveniently located within walking distance of the city's downtown.
Moore said affordability is more than just your rent or mortgage payment, but also how much you have to spend on transportation to get to work and other important activities.
"So when you can actually put housing near jobs and put housing near the most choice of amenities in your city, you're decreasing the family's dependency on transportation," he said.
The Authority is working on more housing in Tampa Heights and near Central Avenue that will allow residents easy access to employers and other needs.
"That's sort of the strategy that we've been deploying now for 10 years, is building smart housing, building it near all the tourist amenities, as well as the largest job market in our city," he said. "So that people are less dependent on the very high cost of personal travel."
The project is in partnership with Related Urban Development Group.
In total, the Tampa Housing Authority has nearly 4,000 units of housing in the works, Moore said.
