MANSFIELD — Teresa Cook is well aware of the need for affordable senior housing. She also sees potential to address the issue, starting right here in Mansfield.
Cook, who works for the Area Agency on Aging, presented a plan to the Richland county land bank board on Wednesday. The proposal called for a 12-unit housing development, Ritter’s Run, to be built on land bank-owned property on Ohio Street.
The project is reflective of a larger shift on the land bank board, which now has enough vacant land to get behind development projects.
“This is the reason we’ve been doing all this demolition for the last six years so that we can get to this point. Now it’s time to build,” said Bart Hamilton, land bank president.
According to the plan proposal, Ritter’s Run would consist of six ranch-style doubles. Each unit would be 902 square feet and handicap accessible. Units would include appliances, a washer and dryer, a front porch and off-street parking.
The units would be owned by the agency and rented to low-income individuals ages 55 and older. A staff member from the agency would be tasked with providing assistance and check-ins to the residents.
“A great part of having the Area Agency moving into housing is that we bring something extra to this, that’s supportive services,” Cook said.
The land bank board voted in favor of transferring the three parcels to the Area Agency on Aging, but the project won’t begin until funding is secured.
Duana Patton, chief executive officer of the Area Agency on Aging District 5, submitted an application to the City of Mansfield’s Community Development office for $600,000 in HOME funds from the Community Development Block Grant. The Area Agency on Aging has pledged the remainder of the project cost.
Tracy Bond, the city’s community development and housing director, chose not to recommend funding for the project last night because they did not meet certain qualifications. City council is not required to follow the director’s recommendations, but typically does, according to sixth ward council member Jean Taddie.
Bond was not available for comment at the time of publication, but Taddie said the funds were denied because a market study and environmental report had not been turned in, the agency did not own the property at the time of the application and that the agency had not secured additional funding.
“I took it to mean that once the conditions were satisfied that we would want to look this over,” said Taddie, who heads up city council’s public affairs committee. Taddie added that the city has over $800 thousand waiting to be invested in “good, high quality, affordable housing.”
Cook said she planned to begin getting the city requirement documentation immediately after the land bank meeting.
“The agency is very confident that we can satisfy the requests from the city,” she said.
City council is set to vote on Community Development Block Grant funding allocations in April.
If all 12 units are built, the project is estimated to cost $1.2 million; however, Cook said if the agency can only secure part of the funding from the city, it will likely opt to go forward with the project but construct fewer units.
Cook hopes the approach to senior housing will catch on, since many older residents would prefer to live in neighborhoods rather than moving to a large-scale complex.
Cook predicted Ritter’s Run will be open by the end of 2020. She also indicated that after the project is completed, the agency will continue to seek state funding to construct additional senior housing in the area.
“This is just going to be the first of what we hope to be many other projects in the city Mansfield,” she said. “This would be something that could be replicated, not only here, but for the other counties that we serve. We hope to see it set best practices across the state on innovative ways to build senior housing.”
