Intel’s announcement earlier this year of a $20 billion manufacturing operation bringing thousands of jobs to rural Ohio was greeted as an economic boon.
But behind that enthusiasm lurked a pressing question.
“Where are we putting everybody?” asked Melissa Humbert-Washington, vice president of programs and services at Homes for Families, which helps low-wage workers find housing in a region already suffering a major shortage.
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Voters approved Columbus' $200 million bond package for affordable housing that Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and other city officials say will provide funding for homes for lower-income residents in a market quickly becoming too-expensive for many.
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Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, said the vote on the affordable housing issue shows that there's a clear mandate for affordable housing.
"If there are any local leaders wondering if now was the right time to step up for affordable housing, I think now they have an undeniable answer," Boos said.
Our latest cover story looks at the transformation happening in Franklinton, which until recently seemed frozen in time, with little to no development or new businesses moving into the area.
In 2004, a massive floodwall was finished and the neighborhood was primed for new development. But it didn’t come immediately.
Change didn't come to the neighborhood until the private sector and some passionate neighborhood advocates and neighborhood organizations came together.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Thursday night, Linden residents learned how over $21 million of grant money had been used to elevate their neighborhood over the last three years.
The City of Columbus joins the Linden community and community partners on Thursday at the Linden Community Center to celebrate The 614 for Linden, a collaborative to advance the One Linden Community Plan. The collaborative, named for six nonprofits, partnered with four community development financial institutions to have a positive and significant impact on one neighborhood.
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The local housing market already shows effects that the potential influx of new Intel employees brings for supply and demand and pricing.
“One of the awesome things about Intel is it’s going to raise property values; one of the scary things about Intel is it’s going to raise property values,” said Stephanie Moulton, a Glenn College professor whose expertise includes housing and consumer finance.
“For people who already own homes, this is a good thing. But for people who haven’t yet purchased homes, already the Columbus housing market is one of strongest in the country in terms of our house price growth,” she said. “Prices have just boomed since COVID, and the population is growing, which means demand for housing and homes is increasing and supply can’t keep up with that demand, so you end up having really high prices.
“I think about the missing middle and first-time homeowners,” Moulton says. “How do we make sure there are on-ramps for new homeowners into the market? That’s going to be challenging without investment. There are things Intel could do to create on-ramps.”
Some solutions: subsidies; strategic housing development with various home price points; and help from nonprofits such as NeighborWorks, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Ohio Housing Financing Agency and the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, which have expertise on how to serve people across the income spectrum.
“It’s making sure those players are at the table and part of the discussion so they can help,” Moulton said.
Columbus is booming, but city leaders say it's not growing fast enough. Monday, Columbus City Council unanimously approved a resolution to quadruple the downtown Columbus population by 2040.
Currently, there are more than 10,000 people living in downtown Columbus, but if the city council gets its way, there will be 40,000 by 2040.
“We have to build. We have to build and build more,” Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said.
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“I think if we do not invest in housing, and we do not ensure that we are creating housing in tandem and parallel with our job creation, affordability is going to be at risk,” said Carlie Boos, Executive Director of Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.
BEXLEY, Ohio — According to the Affordable Housing Alliance Of Central Ohio, a person needs to earn $19 an hour in order for them to afford an apartment in Bexley.
"Just to afford a bare bones, two bedroom and most of the jobs in our community aren't paying at that rate," said, Carlie Boos who runs the organization.
A developer is looking to solve the problem by proposing two developments in the city. One is located off East Livingston Avenue and the other is on Cassady Avenue.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The influx of out-of-town and private investment firms seizing single-family homes in Ohio led one state lawmaker to devise a plan to even the playing field for local homebuyers.
Private investment firms with a “boatload of resources” and cheap debt often place cash bids on homes just hours after they’re listed online, according to Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.
When corporate investors are willing to waive contingencies and purchase homes with no inspection, sight unseen, Boos said they’re contributing to a “feeding frenzy” that’s leaving the “average Joe” high and dry.
“That’s just not a fair fight,” Boos said. “In that scenario, a human being is going to lose to a computer algorithm from Wall Street every single time.”
A new Columbus-area program seeks to remedy the region's affordable housing shortage by helping minority and female developers build more homes.
The program, called the Emerging Developers Accelerator Program, will provide education and funding for the developers in the hopes that they will provide more housing.
The accelerator program was created by tAn estimated 54,000 low-and moderate-income households in Franklin County are spending more than half of their incomes on housing, according a 2017 estimate by the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. According to the Alliance, one in five Columbus-area renters was unsure in December how they were going to make their next rental payment.
he Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County and is being funded by the city of Columbus, Franklin County and JPMorgan Chase.
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What they're saying: "This is just putting numbers to what everybody knows," Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, tells Axios.
Boos says the widespread support from entities like the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Nationwide Children's Hospital demonstrates how this issue impacts other community needs, from jobs to public health.
She also credits Mayor Andrew Ginther with seeking a $150 million bond package toward affordable housing projects on the November 2022 ballot.
Of note: Boos highlighted local resources available to help struggling residents pay rent and prevent eviction.