Affordable housing nonprofit Homeport is wrapping up a couple of significant projects — one is bringing new single family homes to the Hilltop, while the other involves the renovation of three historic properties on the southern edge of the University District.
The $9 million renovation project ensures that a total of 59 rental units will remain available to low-income families and seniors in a part of the city where rents have been increasing and a number of high-end residential and mixed-use developments are currently under construction.
An elevator has been added and all 34 one-bedroom apartments have been upgraded in the three-story brick building at 1379 North High Street, just north of King Avenue. The renovation “is keeping older residents of modest means in a neighborhood where prices are surging,” said Steve Nichol of Homeport.
Also restored was a block of row houses at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Hamlet Street in Weinland Park, and two buildings at the corner of Clark Place and Dennison Avenue. Those buildings, which date to 1901, now hold eight two-bedroom townhomes.
On the Hilltop, 30 of the 39 homes that Homeport is building as part of its Hilltop Homes II development have been completed and the remaining houses are on track to be finished by the end of August, according to Nichols.
The 1,400 square foot homes are available to families making less than 60% of the median income in Columbus, and can be purchased by residents after a 15-year period. They are located on scattered lots between West Broad Street and Sullivan Avenue, east of Hague Road.
The homes were built in partnership with Homes on the Hill and are being leased and managed by Community Properties of Ohio.
Another Homeport project — a new five-story apartment building downtown – is currently on hold after the development was not selected by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to receive affordable housing tax credits this year.
For more information, visit www.homeportohio.org.