MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council heard proposals Tuesday from two developers hoping to bring more low income housing to the city.
CHN Housing Partners and The Provident Companies have both applied for funds from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.
The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, provides state and local governments with grant dollars to support housing needs.
It’s up to local lawmakers to award those funds.
HOME dollars can be used in several ways, including financial assistance for homebuyers, rehabilitation assistance for eligible homeowners, building, buying or rehabilitating affordable housing or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people.
Applications for funding were due to the city in February. Mansfield City Council has until May to vote on a plan for awarding funds.
Council members heard from applicants during a public hearing Tuesday and will develop a draft action plan by March 13, according to a timeline provided by city officials. That draft will be made available to city council members and the public and council will vote to finalize it on April 7.
After that, the public will have 30 days to comment on the proposal before it’s submitted to HUD. The proposal will also include the city’s Community Development Block Grant awards.
Three organizations applied for HOME — CHN, The Provident Companies and The Domestic Violence Shelter, which offers a temporary rental assistance program for survivors.
The city of Mansfield also typically allocates some funds for a home rehabilitation program for low-income residents. The city is also allowed to dedicate ten percent of the current year allocation (estimated to be between $32,000 and $35,000) to cover the administrative costs of overseeing the program.
Adrian Ackerman, the city’s community development and housing director, said the city likely won’t have enough money to fully fund each HOME request.
“Probably not fully, but very close,” she said.
City housing director estimates about $2 million in available HOME funding
Mansfield still hasn’t received its 2026 allocation. In fact, HUD hasn’t even announced how much the city will receive.
But based on previous years and HUD’s funding formula, Ackerman said expects the city will receive between $325,000 and $350,000.
However, Ackerman said the city will likely have about $2 million its able to spend in HOME funds due to unspent reserves from previous years.
Ackerman said because the guidelines for HOME funds are stringent, the city doesn’t often receive many eligible applications from housing developers.
“The development experience and capacity are two of the huge factors that we struggled with locally in the housing realm,” she said. “It’s exciting to see that maybe we can utilize some of that funding this year.”
Representatives from both affordable housing companies attended a hearing in Mansfield City Council chambers Tuesday to present their visions to local lawmakers.
CHN pitches affordable housing for seniors
CHN Housing Partners requested $650,000 for an $18.8 million senior housing project.
CHN is a large-scale affordable housing developer, housing service provider, residential lender and housing intermediary that aims to solve major housing challenges across Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to the company’s website.
The company’s goal is to build a three story, 65-unit senior apartment complex on Third Street. All units would be one bedroom. Units would be rented at an affordable rate to residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of Richland County’s Area Median Income.
The facility would be managed by CHN and offer supportive service coordination in partnership with the Area Agency on Aging, according to CHN representative Mark Ciepiel.
Ciepel told council the planned development would also include elevators, a community room, an onsite business center with free WiFi, laundry machines on each floor and a community patio.
The company has purchase agreements in place with the Richland County Land Bank and Mosaic Church to acquire about 1.65 acres along Third Street. Those agreements are contingent on CHN pulling together the necessary funding for its proposed project.
Ciepiel said the company recently applied for nine percent low income housing tax credits through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. He said OHFA invites top applicants to submit a final proposal in May and issues tax credit approvals in December.
If approved, Ciepiel said he expects construction would begin in the spring of 2027.
The Provident Companies seeks to revive multifamily expansion to Turtle Creek apartments
The Provident Companies is requesting $1.25 million for a $31.5 million affordable housing project on Mansfield’s south side.
For several years, the Mansfield Metropolitan Housing Authority had worked to develop a second section of affordable apartments next to Turtle Creek, a senior living complex managed by the agency.
After a plan with a previous developer fell through, the MMHA partnered with The Provident Companies, a local development company, last summer in an effort to get the project back on track.
The proposed Turtle Creek expansion would add 120 units of affordable housing, available to householders of any age. The development would include a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments, available to residents earning up to 60 percent of Richland County’s Area Median Income.
MMHA Director Steve Andrews told council members that OHFA has agreed to contribute $5.9 million bond gap financing towards the project, after previously pulling funding when the previous developer couldn’t secure their share of start up funds.
“Once (OHFA pulls funding), you never see it again, but they knew that wasn’t on the Housing Authority,” Andrews told council members. “It was our first development company that had not been able to perform and (OHFA) still supported our project.”
Robert Bender, CEO of The Provident Companies, said the public-private effort has also secured $300,000 from the Richland County Foundation. The MMHA is contributing $1.5 million to the project, plus the land, which it owns.
But after updating original estimates, factoring in unanticipated site work costs, the public-private duo found itself facing a funding gap.
Bender said he turned to a trusted partner in the industry, Gorsuch Construction of Fairfield, to help recreate the design.
The updated plan now calls for just two to three buildings instead of the original ten, reducing the development’s footprint and site work costs.
But Bender said the project still needs more funding to make it over the finish line.
“Without the money that we’ve asked, I don’t think this project goes forward,” he said. “We’ve given and contributed everything we possibly can.”
The Domestic Violence Shelter seeks to funds to continue providing stability to survivors
The Domestic Violence Shelter requested $138,000 to continue its tenant based rent assistance program.
The program helps cover the cost of housing for survivors of domestic violence while they rebuild their lives after leaving the shelter.
“Last year with your support, we were able to house 79 adults and 68 children, providing a total of 28,835 safe nights,” executive director Colleen Rice told council members. “That’s equivalent to 79 years of safety.”
“That’s an average of 196 nights per person and gives each survivor enough stability to heal, work, attend court, rebuild their lives,” she said.
Rice told council the need for such programs is urgent, as Mansfield’s rate of domestic violence is nearly three times the state average.
“If someone doesn’t have a safe place to go after they leave shelter, the odds are they are gonna return to someone who was violent against them, just to have a roof over their head,” Rice said. “This program that you funded us with last year, it changes that.”
