Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County, Inc.

The Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. (HLC) is an action-oriented coalition of business, civic and community leaders working to identify solutions and funding options to the workforce housing shortage in Palm Beach County. Its primary goal is to increase the availability of attainable housing throughout Palm Beach County for workers at all income levels. The founding members of the HLC are the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, Inc., Workforce Alliance, Inc., the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, the North Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and Palms West Chamber of Commerce. Membership is open to all interested businesses, organizations and individuals committed to its goals.

In 2006, the HLC released the results of its Housing Needs Assessment completed by FIU Metropolitan Center. This assessment was updated in 2007 and released to the public in early 2008 along with a new study focused on rental housing. All these studies are available online. In addition, the HLC has conducted "solutions" workshops about employer assisted programs and facilitated local housing fairs for employees with the generous support of local service providers.

The Economic Council is a founding member of the South Florida Regional Business Alliance (RBA). The RBA has facilitated a partnership with the HLC, Broward Housing Partnership, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Committee on Workforce Housing, FIU Metropolitan Center, FAU Center for Urban and Environmental Studies and Terwilliger Center of the ULI to develop a regional housing agenda from a business perspective. The FIU Metropolitan Center research on the "State of Workforce Housing in Southeast Florida" was presented to a regional meeting of business and government leaders on November 12, 2008. Policy changes and management improvements to reduce and eliminate regulatory, financial or other barriers to workforce housing were recommended and affordable workforce housing resources were identified.  An initial consensus agenda enumerating actions available to the public sector (local, state, federal), the private sector and other Southeast Florida housing stakeholders emerged from this unique event.

Membership in the HLC is open to the public and there are several active committees dealing with land acquisition, public policy, finance and other housing related issues. For more information, see the following:

Click here to view the Economic Council's Resolution to Support Workforce Housing.

Click here to view the 2008 Palm Beach County Workforce Housing Market Update.

Click here to view the 2008 Rental Housing Study.

Click here to view the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. website.

For an Executive Summary of the South Florida Regional Workforce Housing Needs Assessment, click here.

For Dr. Ned Murray's power point presentation at the November 12, 2008 Regional Workforce Housing Conference, click here.

For polling results from the live session of the November 12, 2008 Regional Workforce Housing Conference, click here.