The latest plan from the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) for Poindexter Village calls for eventually building about 350 mixed-income, multi-family units on the site. It also proposes a collection of commercial uses along Mt. Vernon Avenue, including a three-story mixed-use building, an urban farm, and a “Food Hub” on the former IGA site at the corner of North Champion Avenue.
A site plan and phasing map show the overall vision for Phases Two through Five of the project, which CMHA and partner McCormack Baron Salazar hope will receive a $30 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Bryan Brown of CMHA said that they expect to hear this summer if their proposal has been selected for funding. If it is not, he said, they are likely to try again next year armed with feedback from HUD, as funding for this type of large-scale, mixed-income project is not easy to piece together from other sources.
As for the urban farm and food hub, Brown said that these were identified in the grant proposal as “opportunity sites,” and that no firm plan is in place for either one. Union Grove Baptist Church owns the proposed farm land, while the city recently purchased the former grocery store site.
CMHA decided last summer to demolish all but two of the 35 original Poindexter apartment buildings. The two remaining original buildings sit to the north of Union Grove Baptist Church and will be refurbished as part of the project’s second phase, although an end use for the buildings has not yet been determined.
Brown noted that CMHA has worked to maintain a dialogue with former residents of Poindexter Village, and that the feedback received from them on the plan so far has been positive; “we think it provides quality opportunities for housing, and a more vibrant neighborhood where they might choose to return.”
Plans for the second phase of the project include the mixed-use building on Mt. Vernon, a new park at the corner of Champion and Hawthorne, and a mix of townhomes and two- to three-story apartment buildings between Champion and Ohio Avenue. Altogether, Phase Two would see the completion of 87 units, 30 of which would be market-rate. If CMHA is awarded the HUD grant, Brown said that construction could start as soon as the summer of 2015 on this portion of the project.
Funding for Phase One – the 104-unit Poindexter Place Senior Building – has been secured; a ground-breaking is scheduled for April 17th with the goal of completing the building by August of 2015.
For more discussion on the Poindexter Village demolition CLICK HERE.
Renderings and maps provided by Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT).
