Columbus housing authority gets fed money for homeless housing vouchers

The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority will be using $21 million in new federal money to pay for emergency vouchers to house 298 homeless families.

[Michelle] Heritage said a big problem is the lack of affordable housing. The area lost 19,469 affordable homes — rents less than $900 — from 2017 to 2019 because rents have gone up, according to the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. "It’s super difficult to find places people can afford. There's huge competition for every single apartment."

Carlie Boos, executive director of the affordable housing alliance, said she fears homelessness will increase when the eviction moratorium is lifted on June 30.


Affordable-housing apartment complex in the works for Whitehall

Developers continue to be bullish on the Whitehall real-estate market.

The $25 million Enclave on Main project is a 4-story, 102-unit apartment complex set to occupy the corner of Main Street and Maplewood Avenue.


According to the Affordable Housing Alliance Central Ohio organization, housing is generally considered "affordable" if a low-income renter is paying no more than 30% of his or her income for housing (rent and utilities) or if a low-income owner is paying no more than 30% of his or her income for mortgage and utilities. A household is housing-cost-burdened if it pays more than 30% of income for housing and has severe housing cost burden if it pays more than 50% of income for housing.


Housing advocates, Franklin County Auditor show support for property tax relief proposal

COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Supporters of an upcoming bill say it could help keep the most vulnerable Ohioans from being forced out of their homes.
“Unfortunately we know these consequences are more dire for our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Carlie Boos, the executive director at the nonprofit.

“As a result, too many families are being priced out of the neighborhoods that they built and that they nurtured, adding fuel to this already smoldering housing crisis,” said Boos.


Ohio senator to propose bill capping annual property tax hikes at 5% for eligible homeowners

As property taxes increase with soaring property values, a state senator from Columbus plans to introduce legislation that would cap property tax increases at 5% per year statewide.


Carlie Boos, the executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, said fostering homeownership is a key to building wealth.

"Steep tax spikes hinder that," Boos said.

Those consequences affect seniors on fixed incomes and low-income residents in  communities of color facing gentrification, she said.

"The time to tackle these challenges is absolutely right now," Boos said.


Fund for Franklin County affordable housing has loaned $22.3 million

A housing fund created in 2019 to loan $100 million to create affordable housing in Franklin County has so far financed projects to construct or rehab more than 1,000 units.


Carlie Boos, the executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, said next steps need to be taken, such as more money for grants for housing and underwriting support for extremely low-income tenants.

Experts have been saying households should pay just 30% of their income on housing, Boos said.

"The damage has bene done by COVID-19," she said. "We can bake it in or stop it in its tracks and deal with it now."


From the editor: 2020 was ‘rollercoaster’ year for affordable housing

It always seems like it’s two steps forward, one step back on the affordable housing front. [….]

Locally, the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio praised the “incremental progress,” although it said the past year was “a rollercoaster of good news and bad.” 

The alliance cited several positive developments in the region:

  • Reynoldsburg modernizing its zoning code to encourage walkable, dense, mixed-use neighborhoods along commercial corridors.

  • Columbus’ $50 million investment in affordable housing.

  • Bexley bolstering housing rights with “source of income” legislation preventing discrimination against renters using public subsidies, a move since followed by Columbus, Westerville and most recently, Reynoldsburg. […]

We can debate who’s getting the money and whether we can afford it, but there’s no question more assistance is needed to get more people housing-secure. 

Carlie Boos, the alliance’s executive director, called for setting aside 30% of the funding for housing.

“If we target this money to get the housing train back on its tracks and cure the damage caused by Covid, we can make our recovery swift and equitable,” the alliance said.

The roadblocks are many, however, including rising costs for land, lumber and labor that make affordable housing projects more difficult. 

The alliance counted 22,000 units added in the region from 2017 to 2019 that rent for more than $1,250 a month, while the region lost 19,000 units at under $900 a month. 

Let’s just remember all this as we celebrate the return to ‘normalcy.’ 

Four-story apartment building proposed for former Near East Side Save-A-Lot site

A developer wants to build a four-story apartment building on the site of a former Save-A-Lot store on East Main Street on the Near East Side. 
…

"What we really need to be cognizant of is opportunities for safe, stable affordable housing," Boos said.