Rising Housing Costs Driving Dade County’s Push For Workforce Housing

With housing costs continuing to take a larger share of household income, Dade County officials say the need for affordable housing is becoming harder to ignore, as the alternative is quickly becoming untenable. 

“One of the biggest things is … 30 to 50 percent of their income is going just for their house payment now,” said County Executive Don Townsend. “That’s disturbing.”

That pressure is driving the county’s participation in the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, a University of Georgia-backed program aimed at helping communities develop local strategies to address housing challenges. Updates on the effort were shared during the Industrial Development Authority’s April 20 meeting.

“The housing initiative in Dade County … and the move towards workforce housing — housing that’s affordable to the everyday worker — is what we’re looking at,” said Evan Stone, Executive Director of the IDA.

Stone emphasized the focus is not on government-assisted housing, but on creating options for residents who work locally and need attainable home prices.

“It’s not any kind of government assistance … affordable housing for the everyday worker is what we’re looking to attract,” he said.

Townsend said the definition of “affordable housing” often does not match what residents can realistically afford.

“Georgia defines affordable housing as anything under $290,000,” he said. “Well, $290,000 is still a big chunk of change.”

He added that most families do not have the upfront cash required for traditional financing, further limiting access to homeownership.

As part of the initiative, Dade County has joined a cohort of communities across the state working through the program, sharing strategies and identifying ways to address local housing needs.

Officials said early conversations locally have included outreach from developers interested in bringing housing projects to the county, though no formal requests have been issued.

“We’re probably looking small and steady at first,” Townsend said, pointing to a cautious approach focused on quality and long-term sustainability.

Townsend said maintaining standards will be critical as development moves forward.

“We want to hold their feet to the fire and make sure they do the right thing … we want some quality stuff for people,” he said.

Beyond new construction, officials discussed the role of blight cleanup and redevelopment as part of the broader housing strategy, including potential use of grants to address long-neglected properties.

“We realize there’s blight … and we want to provide a way to do this,” Townsend said, describing a preference for working with property owners rather than forcing action.

The Georgia Initiative for Community Housing process is still in its early stages for Dade County, with additional meetings planned later this year as local leaders continue refining their approach.

Officials say the goal is to build a strategy that supports current residents while preparing for future growth, without opening the door to unmanaged development.

In addition, the IDA voted to add a recently-acquired 65-acre parcel directly adjacent to the current industrial park to its ongoing engineering plan. They also voted to allow any timber that would be cleared on that lot to be declared and sold as surplus.