Cincinnati is adding 1,500-2,000 housing units a year. It needs nearly ten times that many. How do we build more?
Published:
Edited:
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval told an audience of educators, students, policy makers and nonprofits Thursday, the city, “must turbocharge development.” Pureval and others who spoke at The Affordable Housing Crisis Symposium, sponsored by Xavier University, know there is an urgent need.
Despite a $7 Million annual contribution to the $100 Million Housing Trust Fund, changes to the tax abatement program, and automatic approval for LIHTC projects by City Council, Pureval says, “All of those programs taken together, have tripled the amount of affordable housing over the last five years but we are still nowhere near our goal.”
Experts say Cincinnati needs to be building 10,000 housing units a year and the Mayor says he thinks we are between 1,500 and 2,000. Pureval is looking for solutions.
Housing Resources
Ohio has announced $14 Million in grants to support workforce housing in 10 counties, including Cincinnati, the City of Hamilton and Greene County.
To be eligible, local governments within 20 miles of a major economic development project can apply for funding to expand housing-related infrastructure, strengthen public safety and community services, or provide capital to support new housing development.
To date the REDD grant has helped 14 counties build about 6,000 units of housing this year.
Cincinnati will receive a $2 million grant to support the development of between 367 and 407 duplex, triplex, and quadplex housing structures in Bond Hill. This project supports housing demand created by investments by Total Quality Logistics, LLC and CDK Global, LLC.
Xenia will build 296 housing units, demand created by investments from Gabriel Brothers, Inc., and Air Force Life Cycle Management.
“As we continue bringing new jobs and new opportunities to our great state, we need to make sure the people filling those jobs can find a home nearby,” said Governor DeWine. “These awards will help local communities support new growth, and create chances for more Ohioans to live the lives they’ve always wanted.”
Ohio Senator Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester) chairs the state Housing Committee and sponsored the REDD legislation. She’s optimistic about the possibility of adding even more housing.
She’s also introduced Senate Bill 428 which updates residential building codes and regulations. In some cases it allows developers to build with a single stairway exit.
Reynolds says housing “is not a political issue. It’s a humanitarian issue and more people are addressing it today.”
There is an urgency
Mayor Pureval says no market rate development without subsidy is happening now in the City of Cincinnati. Developers must have some sort of public-private partnership.
University of Cincinnati Chair of the Center for Real Estate Gary Painter says we need to build more housing before the market becomes too hot.
He references Nashville where rent is about $1,000 more than Cincinnati in some cases, because developers are flocking there. This is because they don’t have to get any public financing and can charge more for rent.
Painter says, “We have to figure out how to thread a needle, or ask how do we build sufficient housing to make up the gap of what wasn’t built in the 2010s? We have to figure out how to finance, approve and make sure that the whole process of development is sufficiently low cost that we do not wait until rents are $1,000 then they are today.”
Mayor Pureval agrees and says it comes down to zoning laws. “The way that we have created our zoning laws prevents us from increasing the amount of housing that we have which over time will increase the amount of supply and therefore bring prices to stabilize.”
Cincinnati changed some of its zoning laws in Connected Communities.
How are we doing?
Earlier this year Rent Café looked at affordable housing construction.
Between 2020 and 2024 Cincinnati doubled its output with 1,400 housing units, but its total completions still come in at just half of Columbus’ level. Rent Café says despite their high unit counts, both metros allocated the smallest shares of their overall apartment construction to affordable housing statewide.
Despite building just 883 units, Rent Café says, “Dayton leads the state in dedication. While its total volume is lower, Dayton ‘takes the crown’ for both the highest growth rate (up 437%) and the largest share (17%) of its housing inventory devoted to income-restricted units.”
Ann Thompson – Host, Producer
Over the last thirty years in Cincinnati, Ann Thompson has brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting. She has reported and anchored for WVXU, WKRC, WCKY, WHIO-TV and Metro Networks and freelanced for NPR, CBS and ABC Radio. Her work has been recognized by the Associated Press and she has won awards from the Association of Women in Communications and the Alliance for Women in Media. She is a former News Director and Operations Manager. Ann has reported from India, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Belgium as part of fellowships. Ann thinks of the Brick by Brick project as “journalism for good.” She serves as host and producer. Ann lives in Anderson Township with her husband Scott. They have two boys. Jake graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2022 and Kurt attends West Point.
