Lennar's Eiland Park Town Homes is a gated community located near S.R. 54 and Eiland Blvd. with its own swimming pool and cabana, picnic area, gazebo, volleyball court and playground.

Mark Metheny, right, president of Lennar's North Tampa division, says two new new model town homes that open in Nov. feature GE appliances and ceramic tile floors. Two and three-bedroom town homes at Eiland Park come in three floor plans that range in size from 1,371 square feet to 1,531 square feet.

Arguably, Lennar has taken the most aggressive approach to 'affordable' homes among Tampa Bay- area builders. As Dan DeWitt reported in the St. Petersburg Times on Sept. 4, Lennar sold off inventory homes at Hernando Oaks in Brooksville---the community "that pioneered the idea of selling luxury homes in Hernando County" with some double-deep discounts:

The couple ended up paying $110,000 and $115,000 for two houses, each of them selling for more than $60,000 less than the market value, according to the Hernando County Property Appraiser's Office.

Some luxury homes at Hernando Oaks are priced as high as the $400's.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Builders, lenders, community development organizations and city representatives will be on hand to assist buyers in qualifying for up to $60,000 in financial aid and down-payment assistance.

Florida Workforce Housing Network will be on hand to photograph the event and report on it over the weekend, which will also be shared here.

The video---hosted by YouTube---marks an important milestone in the evolution of this web site and the marketing of affordable housing in Florida. Click on the image at left to go to the YouTube page with the video, then click on that image to play the video (RealTown, which ranks as one of the most sophisticated and powerful web communities in real estate, does not yet accommodate YouTube video embeds but (I'm just guessing) will eventually do so as more Realtors learn of the power of this marketing format. RealTown is so sophisticated that the 'workaround' to present this video was very simple. So...click on the picture and we'll be glad to welcome your participation in this historic event.

If you'd like to email us with your name, we'll inscribe it in our Annals of History so you'll have something to show your grandkids one day.

Many thanks to Israel Segara, Contract Management Officer at the City of Tampa-Housing and Community Development's Ybor Service Center, for making this video available to our project.

He wants to turn an abandoned school building---the former Euclid Elementary School in St. Petersburg, now Euclid Center---into condominiums and town homes teachers can afford to buy. For now, the school board is listening.

So is the media. Jane Meinhardt broke the story in Tampa Bay Business Journal six weeks ago. Last week Paul Swider followed up in the St. Petersburg Times. On Friday, Isabel Mascareñas at WTSP-TV Channel 10 did it again---with video.

"It's really a brilliant idea," says Nick Pavonetti, right, founder and managing director of PDC Affordable Housing in St. Petersburg. One of Fla.'s leading affordable housing consultants, the former banker and commercial developer would like to partner with Shea and build town homes designed to complement the two-story red brick school house built in 1925 (Meinhardt) or 1940 (Swider).

Shea, who lives across the street from the school facility, envisions nine condos in the building shell and 10-12 new town homes on the nearly two-acre site---much of which is now covered by parking lot. The project could get under way as early as next year, Shea says.

First, a community land trust

Shea told Meinhardt he wants St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership to form a community land trust and convince the school board to deed Euclid Center over. Taking land costs out of the equation---and utilizing economical construction techniques like Pavonetti's modular two-story town homes---could deliver three-bedroom homes priced as low as $170,000, within reach of a teacher's salary.

"Don Shea has done his homework," said Pavonetti. "A community land trust could assure that the homes remain affordable to the next generation of teachers."

Pinellas schools superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox, right, said Shea's proposal might be dicey. Not all teachers would qualify , he told Swider at the St. Pete Times, and and that could raise legal issues. But, Swider reports, Wilcox thinks they can work a deal.

Dave Metz, St. Petersburg's deputy mayor for neighborhoods, told Swider the city plans to put some of its property near Mercy Hospital into a land trust and let Habitat for Humanity and Grady Pridgen build an affordable-housing development.

The school-recycling-as-community land trust strategy might be the first of its kind in the U.S. And it might be one that other Fla. counties will adopt as young families move away in search of more affordable places to live and Fla. public school enrollments decline.

TAMPA, Fla. --- Seven East Tampa community organizations will host Community Survival Day – Moving To The Next Level from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 18th Ave. Park (west of S.R. 41 between 18th Ave. E and 21st Ave. E).

The seven organizations---the Tampa Bay Community and Family Development Corp., Family and School Support Teams (FASST), Hillsborough Co. Health Department, Lee Davis Neighborhood Service Center, Lee Davis Advisory Board, The East Tampa Community Revitalization Committee, and the CDC of Tampa, Inc.---want to provide families, aspiring leaders, students, and community members in East Tampa and surrounding areas with information, resources and enrichment activities that will improve the availability of services and the community's access to them.

That's a lot of people power under development.

That's a living, breathing, sweating kind of democracy under a July sun. In Florida, where we know sun. The spirits of America's Founding Fathers must be kicking up their heels with glee.

Six hundred to 1,000 participants are expected.

Conchita L. Canty-Jones of the Tampa Bay Community and Family Development Corp. (a 501(c)(3) community service organization) is looking for sponsors.

"Our goal with Community Survival Day is to provide community linkages to resources that will impact the community," Ms. Canty-Jones explained.

Event themes will include Minority Health Disparities, Education, Economic Development, Housing, and Youth Relations, with activities for children and adults.

Ms. Canty-Jones: "Our agenda, at a glance, includes: Walk-A-Thon, Booth Displays, Smoke-Out (Stop Smoking Campaign), Bogie Bear (Mascot and entertainment for youth and adults), back-to-school supplies, and of course food and music."

In the past, this event has drawn more than 600 people.

This is democracy in action. Smoking cigarettes is a problem in East Tampa---it shortens lives, wastes precious economic resources, and dirties the environment (just as it does at Tampa Palms). And ultimately, it effects everyone in one way or another. But while many Americans might imagine that TV commercials and restrictive ordinances will do the trick, Community Survival Day will feature a Stop Smoking booth manned by volunteers who aim to help those afflicted kick the habit.

Housing is a problem too, for too many families. The CDC of Tampa, Inc. will be on hand to showcase new homes for sale in East Tampa---single-family homes with lawns to mow that a family income of $41,600 can afford to buy.

Not to go all Norman Rockwell, but this is the throbbing heart of community laid bare and it's an awesome sight.

Sponsors: Please send contributions---including donations of gift cards, supplies, etc.---to Tampa Bay Community and Family Development Corp., 3000 N. 34th Street, Tampa, FL 33605.

Sponsor Levels and Benefits: