EATONVILLE, Fla. — More affordable housing could soon be coming to Eatonville, in which prospect residents are excited about, but local officials are moving towards it with caution.

Eatonville resident Kim Middleton is known for her soul food. She spends her days in the kitchen of her Eatonville hot spot, Kook’n with Kim. She’s not shy about sharing her secret ingredient: love.

“When you cook soul food, you have to have soul,” said Middleton, stirring cabbage ahead of the lunch rush. 

A part of her heart belongs to her town. 

“I love Eatonville, I love my community,” she said.

Middleton has been here since the 80s, settling in Eatonville shortly after immigrating from Thailand. But lately, she’s noticed some big changes.

“New building, new apartments, all kinds of stuff, so they do good for everybody here,” said Middleton. 

More affordable housing is on the way. Eatonville’s Mayor Angie Gardner says these changes are bittersweet.

“You know we want to grow, but we have to grow in the right way,” Gardner said. 

The Enclave at Lake Shadow is in the process of being built on West Kennedy Boulevard. Mayor Gardner said this project will bring nearly 100 affordable housing units that will be income-restricted. She said it’s an ongoing issue that there is not enough housing in Eatonville for all the people who want to live there.

“So, you have parents who have the homes, but their children now want to settle here, but there is simply not enough housing and the housing that was here maybe just was not desirable for them, so they have moved to other areas,” said Gardner. 

On top of that, Eatonville was awarded a $2 million grant to purchase the land where the Smith’s Eatonville Motel currently stands to transform it into the Eatonville Town Shoppe Center. Renderings from the Community Redevelopment Agency show commercial space with affordable housing built above it. However, Gardner says Eatonville is about 60% rental at the moment and she would like to see this project become affordable housing that people can buy.

“Now, you do have individuals building new homes for people to purchase, but it is not affordable. You know it is. Market rate housing, this hopefully will turn this around,” said Gardner. 

While Gardner said the town will continue to pursue grant money for projects like this if they are beneficial to the residents. First, she wants to have a master plan created in order to protect the town’s culture and heritage.

“It is important that any steps further do need to be within the realms of a plan, and a plan that keeps the town’s past in mind, as well as its future going forward,” said Gardner. 

With all this potential growth in the future, Middleton is thinking she may need to grow, too.

“I’ll probably have to get a bigger building,” said Middleton. A future she can’t wait to cook up.

“I am very excited for Eatonville.”

When it comes to the Eatonville Town Shoppe Center project, they are still in the very early stages. Even though the town was granted the money, the mayor explained the town council still has to vote in early August on whether they will accept it. Then, they can start the process of trying to buy the motel’s land.