LAFAYETTE, La. (NEWS 15) — There’s a new $5 million investment being made to improve affordable housing on the Northside of Lafayette.
The announcement happened at Destiny of Faith Church on Friday, February 28, as state Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-District 24, and others laid out the plans.
A group of local business owners came together to invest over $5 million in the Bayberry Pointe neighborhood in Lafayette. The group now owns all 83 homes in the neighborhood and plans to turn any homes that are rundown into brand new livable spaces for people. They also want residents in the neighborhood who rent to become homeowners in the near future.
Sen. Boudreaux calls this an innovative way to address a housing crisis that has plagued Lafayette for nearly a decade.
We wanna get people out of renting and where they own their own homes, so this will be a first step,” said Sen. Boudreaux. “And we partnered with First Horizon Bank and this will hopefully be the first phase of many that could collaborate and bring people together to address the housing issue. We see and we know it’s a problem and today is one part of a step in getting to some solutions.”
The business group and also Sen. Boudreaux mentioned this is the first phase of Lafayette’s new housing plan. He added the majority of the work will happen on the Northside.
“Very intentional. When we talk about affordable housing, we want to make sure that North Lafayette is in that equation,” he noted.