MANSFIELD — The Richland County Land Bank board will likely vote next week on a tentative sales agreement to sell more than 70 residential lots across Mansfield to a Columbus-based affordable housing developer.
The agreement would grant Woda Cooper Companies the exclusive right to purchase up to 76 parcels to build single family homes and duplexes throughout the city. The properties would then be rented at an affordable rate to low income residents.
A list of land bank-owned lots Woda Cooper is interested in purchasing included several parcels on Benton Street, Boughton Avenue, Bowman Street, Cedar Street, Clairmont Avenue, Crystal Springs Street, West Fifth Street, E. First Street, Weldon Avenue, Willis Avenue and Wood Street.
That purchase agreement would be contingent on Woda Cooper securing certain funding and tax credits from the state of Ohio that would make the project financially viable. The proposed agreement would grant Woda Cooper site control, but wouldn’t transfer ownership until funding is secured.
Jon Kay, vice president of development at Woda Cooper, told land bank board members the company would need a purchase agreement in place in order to apply for the latest round of financing from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA). Applications are due June 8.
Kay also outlined his company’s vision for the sites during a land bank meeting on Friday. Woda Cooper’s proposal includes building up to 70 new, affordable housing units. Kay said all units would likely include three bedrooms and two baths.
Net rents would range from $875 to $1,050 and rentals would be restricted to residents earning between 50 and 70 percent of the area median income, according to the company’s proposal.
Perry said proposed new housing should compliment existing neighborhoods
Several developers have approached the Richland County Land Bank and the city of Mansfield over the past few months with proposals for large scale affordable housing projects.
But most of the proposals have been for large, multifamily developments at single vacant lots like the former YMCA on Park Avenue, former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center or a string of adjacent parcels on Third Street.
“I met with the Woda team, and (land bank executive director Amy Hamrick) did a couple times now, and what interested me on this one is exactly because it’s infill housing,” said Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry, who sits on the land bank board.
“It’s not owner-occupied, obviously we still do want to see that happening as well, but it’s not just the big units we have been seeing.”
Perry said she asked Woda Cooper to focus more on neighborhoods as opposed to busy streets and to use designs that fit in with surrounding homes.
“We wanted the architecture at least to be complementary — don’t put two stories where everything is one story, and vice versa,” Perry said Friday after seeing some of Woda Cooper’s designs. “I think from what I’m seeing today — I hadn’t seen those before — it seems like they’ve taken my advice.”
Jotika Shetty, executive director of the Richland County Regional Planning Commission, asked Kay how much communication and quality control local officials would have after a potential deal would go through.
Kay said securing funding would be first step in the process, but the company would keep lines of communication open afterward.
“We’ll definitely keep a close eye and be open to discussion and communication to make sure long term that these (units) are beneficial to a broad community,” Kay said. “We’re happy to work with the community, take feedback, hold sessions in order to talk to the community about the design, get feedback from there as well.”
Land bank will likely finalize purchase option agreement next week
The land bank board ultimately voted to pursue a purchase option agreement for $3,500 per parcel, plus a non-refundable deposit of $25,000.
But some board members expressed hesitation.
Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero called Woda Cooper “reputable” but questioned whether or not the land bank should agree to sell so many lots so quickly.
“Mansfield seems to be a hotbed for these type of projects at the moment,” he said. “Are we truly looking at a comprehensive strategy for (scattered site development)?”
Kay said a greater number of units would strengthen the company’s bid for OHFA funding.
“That’s what makes you competitive,” he told the board.
Hamrick said the board does have a development policy, but that its guidelines are loose and more designed around small scale developments.
Perry and others said developing a more thorough policy for large scale development may be beneficial, given the amount of recent interest from developers.
“I know exactly when OHFA releases a round (of funding), because my phone starts ringing off the hook,” Perry said. “I do agree long term with you, Commissioner, that we probably should talk strategy, because I don’t think this is going to let up any time soon.”
Woda Cooper is an employee-owned, vertically-integrated affordable housing firm with 800 employees across 18 states, according to its proposal to the land bank. Kay said the company tends to maintain long-term ownership of its properties and employ local property managers.
Kay told the board he’s confident Mansfield’s scattered sites would score well on an application with OHFA, which has certain guidelines in place that cause some locations to score more highly than others.
“The typical competitive success rate in the industry is around 25 to 30 percent. Ours is 55 percent,” Kay added. “I would say that we’re being confident, or at least the majority confident on that one, that we would be successful.”
In other news, Hamrick told the board that the land bank was awarded a $600,000 grant through the Welcome Home Ohio program.
Welcome Home Ohio is a state-funded competitive grant program aimed at boosting the state’s owner-occupied housing stock. The program is administered by the Ohio Department of Development.
The land bank had applied for $2.5 million in funds, which would have been enough to build 25 affordable homes. The allocation will be enough to build a total of six new affordable homes, Hamrick said.
