Tag Archives: affordable housing

New group drafting comprehensive housing strategy for Hamilton County

Blueprint

What started as a few nonprofit and government leaders working together to keep Hamilton County residents housed during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown into a broader alliance of organizations focused on developing a countywide housing strategy.

The immediate fallout from the pandemic revealed that many Hamilton County households are living on the edge, one medical crisis, job furlough or family emergency away from disaster—in large part because housing costs are increasing more quickly than incomes.

Millions of dollars in public and private grants for emergency rental and utility assistance programs have helped many households avert disaster and start to catch up, but the federal eviction moratorium ends July 31, putting others at risk of being displaced.

And those short-term solutions don’t do anything to address the long-term problem: Hamilton County needs a wider range of housing options that are affordable to all residents, regardless of age, income, or occupation.

HAND Inc., which has been building and preserving affordable housing here since 2003, is one of the Hamilton County Housing Collaborative’s founding members, along with Family Promise of Hamilton County, the Westfield-Washington Township Trustee’s Office, and the Noblesville Housing Authority. Dozens of others have joined the alliance in the past few months as the group’s focus has shifted to the future.

Now the Housing Collaborative is soliciting proposals for a Housing Needs Assessment & Strategy Study, which members will use to make data-based recommendations about how to increase the county’s attainable housing inventory. Organizers also hope to incorporate findings from the City of Noblesville’s 2016 Housing Analysis and a pending 2021 update. The City of Fishers just selected a consultant for a housing study that’s expected to take eight months to complete.

Ultimately, the Collaborative hopes to make a case for additional public and private investment in attainable housing to meet Hamilton County’s needs, both now and in the future.

One potential source of funding: tens of millions of dollars of federal funding awarded to Hamilton County and the cities of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield through the American Rescue Plan. The smaller towns of Arcadia, Atlanta, Cicero, and Sheridan also are slated to receive ARP funding, from the state’s allocation.

The money is intended to help communities recover from the impact of COVID-19, and affordable housing development is specifically mentioned as an eligible use in U.S. Treasury Department guidelines.

Hamilton County has not yet determined how to spend its $65 million allocation, but a committee that includes all three County Commissioners and three rotating members of the County Council are putting together an “investment plan” for the first of two expected installments. Once approved by the Board of Commissioners, the spending plan will be published on the county website.

HAND seeks proposals for 2021 Suburban Housing Conference sessions, panels

Tentatively titled Hot Topics in Housing, HAND’s seventh-annual Suburban Housing Conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, at the Embassy Suites in Noblesville.

This year, HAND Inc. is accepting session proposals and suggestions from you!

Professionals attending previous conferences included elected officials, local stakeholders, local nonprofits, for-profit housing developers, lenders, contractors and property managers.

We are seeking presenters to lead conversations on hot topics in suburban housing, such as:

  • Housing our local workforce
  • Attainable options
  • Suburban transportation
  • Quality of life
  • Suburban challenges like HOAs, aging housing stock and sprawl
  • Diversity & Equity

Criteria for presenters:

  • Presentations will be with all those in attendance (not a break-out)
  • Please state clear objectives of your presentation or panel
  • New and non-traditional ideas are encouraged!

Fill out the form here and submit it to propose speakers or topics. Submissions are due Monday, June 14, 2021.

HAND adjusts plans for Tipton senior apartments

Construction of five rental units for low-income seniors in Tipton is expected to begin this spring after several months of public meetings and legal proceedings caused HAND to adjust its plans.

HAND originally planned to build nine rental units on five residential lots it owns on Southwood Drive, just east of the Tipton High School football field. But a Boone County special judge ruled in November that the nonprofit developer cannot build duplexes that cross platted lot lines, sending HAND and its design team back to the drawing board.

New designs are being finalized and cost projections are being updated in order to resubmit the project to the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority, which awarded HAND $2 million for the 9-unit development in 2019.

The Tipton Board of Zoning Appeals ruled in June 2020 that HAND could build seven units on the site, more than the five allowed by the city’s development standards. To build nine units, HAND needed a zoning variance reducing the minimum lot size from 8,000 square feet per unit to about 4,500 square feet per unit. The BZA agreed to a compromise of 5,275 square feet per unit, but neighbors objected and asked for a judicial review of the decision.

The revised plans call for one stand-alone rental unit to be built on each HAND-owned lot.

Fishers City Council OKs HAND rezoning request

The Fishers City Council voted 5-4 on Feb. 15 to approve HAND Inc.’s request to rezone 1.8 acres of mostly vacant land that could be the site of 11 affordable rental cottages.

Their decision allows HAND to proceed with planning for its proposed Cumberland Cottages development at the southwest corner of 141st Street and Cumberland Road.

An application for project funding through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program is due in May, with a decision expected in August.

Cumberland Cottages would be HAND’s first rental property in Fishers. As designed, it would include 11 two- and three-bedroom rental cottages clustered around shared green space.

City approval was far from certain after members of the Fishers Plan Commission voted 8-1 against the rezone request, citing the planned density, the property’s location near a roundabout, and traffic concerns.

“We are used to getting push-back whenever we propose a new development,” HAND Executive Director Andrea Davis said. “Once construction is done and residents move in, though, most critics realize our properties are actually a community asset.”

Staff at Fishers’ Planning and Zoning Department recommended the City Council approve the rezoning, and HAND worked to address members’ concerns about Cumberland Cottages.

Although several members of the Plan Commission and City Council suggested another site might be more appropriate for the development, Davis explained the the Cumberland Road property is ideal because of its proximity to a wide range of services as well as jobs.

Adding 11 units to an area that already has hundreds of homes—including clusters of attached housing that are far more dense than Cumberland Cottages would be—will not significantly effect traffic, Davis said.

The proposed Cumberland Cottages, shown just southwest of the roundabout at 141st Street and Cumberland Road, would add 11 rental cottages to an area that has hundreds of homes.

A letter from the city’s traffic consultant, prepared at the request of the Fishers Engineering Department, confirmed that 11 cottages would have “no negative effect on the surrounding street system” or on the nearby roundabout.

HAND and its development team will continue to work with the city to fine-tune the Cumberland Cottages proposal. One priority will be to identify funding to upgrade the planned carports to garages.

HAND also plans to form a task force to explore future housing opportunities in Fishers, including homeownership options.

Davis said the Noblesville-based nonprofit already has heard from several Fishers residents interested in renting a unit in Fishers. If the project is funded, the waiting list for Cumberland Cottages will open in 2022.

The Cumberland Cottages development team includes architect David Rausch Studio, Weihe Engineers, and Meyer Najem Construction.

Given the shortage of affordable housing options in the suburbs, local media outlets have been covering HAND’s proposal:

Tell us: What makes your house a home?

Almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are ready to get out of the house! But at HAND, we know how fortunate we are to have safe, stable housing where we can stay healthy.

So let’s all take some time to reflect on what makes our homes so special.

Download a “Home Is …” sign here (or make your own) and personalize it to let us know what makes your home special. Then share the photo on HAND’s Facebook page or email us, and we’ll share the love.

We’ll post them on social media in the coming weeks to demonstrate why it is so important for communities like ours to embrace #housing4all.