MANSFIELD — The Richland County Land Bank board voted Wednesday to sell the site of the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center to an affordable housing developer for $300,000.
The buyer, Wisconsin-based firm Volker, intends to construct affordable housing for seniors at 445 and 455 Bowman Street.
The proposed facility would be an independent, senior housing complex with one- and two-bedroom units available to individuals 55 and older.
Units would be available to households earning between 30 and 80 percent of the average median income.
Greg Baron, managing director of development, said Volker will apply for funds from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) to complete the project.
OHFA is a state agency that provides financing for the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing through the Housing Tax Credit program, issuing tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds and other affordable housing programs, according to its website.
The purchase agreement with the land bank allows Volker to conduct testing on the property, including environmental assessments, soil test and feasibility studies and terminate the agreement up to Aug. 14 if the site if found to be “unsuitable or unacceptable.”
Baron said Aug. 14 is the due date for the company to submit its preliminary application to OHFA. He expects OHFA to review applications and issue invitations to submit final applications in mid-October.
“That’s really where they dig in a little bit deeper on underwriting and that sort of thing,” he said.
Based on the OHFA’s project requirements, Baron and land bank officials said they’re confident the project will be approved for funding.
“There’s never a guarantee, but we feel good about it,” Baron said. “That’s really why we pushed so hard and work as closely as we have with everyone (at the Land Bank).
“We feel good about this project.”
Volker has more than 20 years in development and asset management experience and has developed more than 60 multi-family housing communities in 12 states, according to Baron.
The company recently completed the Garrett Square development in Cleveland and has a second development, Puritas Senior Apartments, underway. A third Cleveland-area project is slated to begin this summer.
Land bank chair hopes senior housing complex will spur additional development in Mansfield’s North End
A countywide housing assessment in 2022 revealed a need for additional housing for all ages and income levels.
But the need for affordable housing and senior housing was especially pronounced.
The local Housing Needs and Assessment Plan released in January projects Richland County will need about 2,700 more affordable rental units to meet the community’s needs in 2032.
The report defined “affordable” as housing for those earning less than 80 percent of the average median income — $41,550 for an individual or $59,300 for a family of four in 2022.
Housing quality is also a challenge.
Richland County has a disproportionately older housing stock. About 20 percent of the county’s housing units were built before 1939 and another 55 percent were constructed between 1940– 1979.
In Shelby, nearly one-third of housing units were built before 1939. In Mansfield, it’s one in four.
“You’re going to have a lot of people whose standard of living is really going to go up (with these apartments),” said Bart Hamilton, Richland County treasurer and chairman of the Land Bank board.
“I don’t care where they’re living now, this is going to be nicer.”
Hamilton said he’s excited to see the Land Bank’s work clear the way for housing development, especially in Mansfield’s north end.
“There really hasn’t been much of an investment in the north end,” he said. “I’m hoping it also helps us spur some other development in that area.”
Survey found one in five North End residents would like to see senior housing on Ocie Hill site
Before voting to finalize a purchase agreement with Volker last week, the Land Bank partnered with the North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC) to host a public input session for the community.
During that event, many residents voiced a desire to see youth services return to the neighborhood and pushed back on the “rushed” timeline.
But a survey conducted by NECIC in 2023 also found support among residents for housing at the Ocie Hill site. More than one in five respondents said they’d like to see senior housing on the lot, while 16 percent said they’d like to see low-income housing.
Baron has verbally committed to working with the NECIC to support its work to build a community center directly south of the Ocie Hill property that could help fill the void left behind when the neighborhood center closed in 2020.
“NECIC is in support of this project as long as the project supports our community impact center,” Tionna Perdue, NECIC’s chief operating officer, said last week.
“If we can collaborate in some way that we are still able to maintain and get that space for parking — if that means shared parking, if that is a walking path of some sort — we would definitely like to see the whole entire block redone.”
Baron said Wednesday he plans to continue conversations with NECIC officials once the purchase agreement is signed.
“At that point is when I would engage my architect to look at the site and come up with ideas and try to brainstorm with them,” Baron said. “The goal is to schedule a call with (CEO Matthew Benko-Scruggs) and at least start the conversation about the site plan.”
