SHELBY – Few things are as important to community health and growth as housing. It’s something the Shelby leaders recognize, which is why there have been continuous pushes for housing developments, including eight to be started by the end of the year.
A five-home development is the largest project; each two-story structure would be approximately 1,300 square feet and located on Second Street. Grant funding from the Welcome Home Ohio project makes the developments possible and will also provide funding to erect a home on Oak Street.
“The grant bridges the gap to make it worth it for a developer to build a new house and sell it below what they have in it,” Shelby Community and Economic Development Director Jeff Parton said at the July 30 Community & Economic Development Committee meeting.
The homes will also have a basement and a front porch, with the same floor plan and varying exterior colors. Each home will have a maximum listing price of $220,000. Any prospective homeowners will have to fall under a pay ceiling as well – household income must not exceed 120 percent of the area’s median.
I don’t know if you want to call a $200,000 structure affordable, but I would call it attainable. That’s the sweet spot for what we’re trying to build.
Shelby Community and Economic Development Director Jeff Parton
“For one person, it’s (about) $77,000, and it goes up from there quite a ways if you’ve got five or six people that live with you,” Parton said. “It’s plenty flexible there.”
The income restriction makes the homes more accessible for the working class, Parton said. Alternatively, a wealthier individual or family could purchase the home, intending to live there part-time or rent it out.
“There’s other development that’s happening around the county that’s more market rate. And then some things are subsidized for low income, but this is kind of in the middle,” Parton said.
Solo projects comprise the two other developments. One will be a 1,200-square-foot ranch-style home at 22 Summit St., listed at about $203,000. The other will be a “two-story version on Second Street,” Parton said.
“I don’t know if you want to call a $200,000 structure affordable, but I would call it attainable,” Parton said. “That’s the sweet spot for what we’re trying to build.
“These are in the 1,300-square-foot range, so maybe they want a little bit less house to manage and take care of. We’re hoping for all these reasons they’ll be attractive, and they’ll market well.”
The eight houses are part of an emphasis on development Shelby adopted this year. Mayor Steve Schag says plans are still in place to add 48 homes for the Millstone Modular Home Community on Lee Street.
“They’re still running electric out there,” Schag said, but one unit is already in place, according to Shelby City Councilman and committee chairman Daniel Reese.
