Commission OKs housing study funding

Mary Ferdon

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission has approved funding the city’s first housing study in over a decade.

The commission on Monday voted to authorize up to $150,000 in funding to complete the study, which seeks assess the city’s existing housing stock, demographics and market demands, as well as identify critical housing gaps and issues.

City officials hope that the study will help elected officials and other stakeholders develop a larger strategy to address the city’s current and future housing needs, said Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon during the meeting.

The city expects to start the bidding process to hire a firm to conduct the study within the next couple months, with the goal of completing the study by this coming spring, Ferdon said.

The city’s previous housing study was done in 2012.

“A lot has changed in that period of time,” Ferdon said. “…We really want (the study) to be something that we can use both currently and then look at our anticipated unmet housing needs going forward over the next five, 10, 15 years. We believe that if we have a well-done study — which is our goal — it will serve as a platform for some strategy and policy decisions that we make going forward.”

The city of Columbus has grown over the past decade on record, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The city’s population was an estimated 44,306, and there were an estimated 18,084 occupied housing units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2021, Columbus’ population had grown to an estimated 50,718, and occupied housing units had increased to 20,717.

At the same time, the percentage of the city’s population that was 65 years and up increased from 14.9% to 15.4% over the same period.

An estimated 75% of occupied housing units in the city in 2021 were built before 2000 and 26% were built before 1960.

The project is being led by the city’s community development and planning departments, who are working to set up an oversight team that will help write a Request for Proposals, work on the bidding process, help select a qualified firm, and work with the firm throughout the study. The team will also present findings from the project to the redevelopment commission, as well as potentially Columbus City Council and other interested entities.

One of the members will be Jessie Boshell from the planning department, who is currently researching what other communities in the region have done, the average cost for this kind of study and appropriate scope of work. The city expects to have this information by the July 17 commission meeting, Ferdon said.

Robin Hilber, assistant director of community development, will be her department’s leader on the team.

While the study will cover the geographical boundaries of the city, officials said part of the project would encompass other nearby areas “because so many of our employees come here and work but they can’t live here, and we want to figure out how do we get them to live here,” Ferdon said.

“Issues around housing are critical, not only here but nationwide, but very important to the success of any city is that we have enough housing, we have the right type, what our residents need, we have it at the right place and it’s safe and affordable,” Ferdon said.

“We know there is a housing issue (in Columbus),” Ferdon added later in the meeting. “But a lot of the information we have is anecdotal, and I think we can move forward better if we have some actual data to support some of the requests that we’ll make.”