“I love living here,” Hillary Knodel, Heartwood resident and mother of two, said.
Heartwood, located in East Gainesville, is a mixed-income neighborhood that gave families like Knodel’s the opportunity to purchase their first home.
The Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) was tasked with redeveloping the site, formerly the location of the Kennedy Homes apartment complex, in 2008. The first home of the 34-house development was sold over a decade later in November 2022. Today, it’s well on its way to being completely sold out, according to Keller Williams Real Estate Agent Craig Wilburn.
“They have all been sold,” Wilburn said.
The remaining three homes for sale are under contract.
Many aspects make this neighborhood attractive to buyers, with safety being number one on Knodel’s list. Since moving to Heartwood two years ago, she says the neighborhood has experienced no major crime at all.
“I've lived in Gainesville,” Knodel said. “I’ve lived on the southeast side closer to Depot Park, and I've lived on the northeast side, kind of by Tom Petty Park, by the Duckpond and honestly, I feel like this is the safest neighborhood I’ve ever lived in.”
Other factors like location play a role as well, with the neighborhood being within walking distance from Joseph Williams Elementary and Lincoln Middle School.
CHW Professional Consultants, a provider of engineering and infrastructure consulting services, has plans to improve the neighborhood for residents by building new fencing, improving the path along the pond and common area, and landscaping the entryway, among other things, according to GCRA Manager Monica Deel.
“I’m excited, actually, to see this side of town kind of get developed more,” Knodel said.
Something unique about the neighborhood is its diverse pool of residents. Back when homes went on sale in June 2021, the program Dreams2Reality was created, in collaboration with the City of Gainesville’s Department of Housing and Community Development, as an affordable housing route for buyers. Eleven houses, or about a third of the entire neighborhood, were designated for this, Wilburn said.
This program presented a fantastic opportunity for first-time homeowners while also forming a long waitlist. Temica Smith, Heartwood resident, is one example of this, being on the waitlist for four years before being offered a house.
Wilburn believes this great neighborhood and its surrounding area are loved by Gainesville residents and despite not having an official waiting list, has good reason to believe one would be long.
“We have gotten so many calls for that neighborhood over this past year,” Wilburn said.
The challenge for Wilburn and Keller Williams Realty now is expansion.
“I don’t know why people aren’t building homes here or there,” Knodel said.
Although houses are now tough to come by following what Knodel calls “the first wave,” Heartwood has a lot of space to take advantage of, with the area being a full 15 acres.
“We got to work on getting more built,” Wilburn said.
The GCRA contracted with a local architect on June 12, 2023, for designs to construct the next two homes. There are currently 16 lots available for purchase, according Deel.
