If approved, this plan will address ‘affordable housing crisis’ in Columbus. Here’s how
If its rezoning request is approved, NeighborWorks Columbus plans to transform a former mobile home park on Farr Road into an affordable housing subdivision.
NeighborWorks Columbus' mission is to provide access to affordable housing and build access to financial independence, president & CEO Cathy Williams told the Ledger-Enquirer.
The organization acquired the 17.6 acres at 988 Farr Road through donations about six years ago, Williams said. They need funding to help clean and develop the land, she said, and the first step is to get this rezoning request passed.
"When applying for funding, you have to get the appropriate zoning," Williams said.
In 2023, the organization raised $1.9 million that was invested in helping people become new homeowners and providing loans, down-payment assistance and financial education and counseling.
Some of NeighborWorks' "Mission Investors" include Bank of the Ozark, Bradley-Turner Foundation, Columbus Affordable Housing Services, NeighborWorks America and Synovus.
NeighborWorks' rezoning request will be considered by the Columbus Planning Advisory Commission on Nov. 6. Determining what exactly they plan to do with the property could take 12-18 months, Williams said.
"It's like a game of dominoes when you line them up," she said. "And this is the very first domino."
No one is living on the property, Williams said, and it's been used in the past for illegal dumping.
"We've got to get it cleaned up," she said. "There are several old trailer carcasses left on it, but they're not inhabitable."
Projects like this one on Farr Road and Elliott's Walk are important because it's critical to produce more affordable housing units in Columbus, Williams said. The gap between what's needed for lower-income families and what's available is in the tens of thousands, she said.
"We have an affordable housing crisis in Columbus," Williams said.
People are doubling up living in homes and apartments, she said. They're also living in cars, abandoned trailers and pop-up campers because there aren't available units.
Data from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey (ACS) showed the supply of housing units in Columbus increased 11.6% from 2000 to 2019, according to a 2021 report by the Community Reinvestment Department . The percentage of vacant "for-sale" units was 2.3%, the report says, and the vacancy rate for rental units was 5.5%.
The Elliott's Walk development on Leslie Drive is in its completion stages, Williams said, with 57 single-family homes. Almost all of the homes are sold, she said.
"They go pretty quick," Williams said. "(It's) enormously successful. The people love it. It's gorgeous."
One of the hopes for the new project on Farr Road is to create a "green, ecologically friendly" development working with the characteristics of the land, she said.
There's been discussion about using solar energy on the homes and putting in electric vehicle chargers, Williams said. These features are becoming increasingly more common in upper-end developments, she said.
"There's no reason we can't do it for affordable units, too," Williams said. "That's what we're gearing ourselves towards."
But this project will take funding, so NeighborWorks is focused on building the capital to follow through on this development with the first step being the rezoning request.
An affordable housing crisis is an issue all Columbus residents should be concerned about, Williams said.
"(Residents) might not see it," she said. "But I guarantee you, they feel it. They feel it in the crime statistics, the truancy, the dropout rate and the job situation. They feel it everywhere, and they just don't realize it."
