15,000 homes in 4 years? Greenberg unveils 'My Louisville Home' affordable housing plan

Ten months after taking office, Mayor Craig Greenberg has released his long-awaited plan for addressing Louisville's affordable housing shortage.

Greenberg has repeatedly said his goal is to add 15,000 new affordable homes within his first term. And while some have questioned the goal's obtainability, Greenberg has remained steadfast on that number.

Now, he's released more details on how he thinks the city can reach it in a report that lays out several strategies for increasing the construction of new units, as well as preserving existing affordable homes.

Two priorities of the plan include updating the city's Land Development Code to allow for more dense construction countywide and dedicating at least $20 million to the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund in each fiscal budget.

See: Details on Louisville's affordable housing plan.

"We're talking about housing of every type: single-family housing, apartments, duplexes, every type of housing in every ZIP code, every Metro Council district, every neighborhood," Greenberg said at a press conference Tuesday. "Housing is not an over there problem. It's a right here problem. And we need a solution that works right here, in Louisville."

Tony Curtis, executive director for Louisville's Metro Housing Coalition, said he hopes people give Greenberg's plan a chance and that other city leaders help implement its strategies.

"A lot of the initial commitments are very promising," he said. "It's going to depend on Metro Council's commitment to Land Development Code reform because that tells you what you can build, where you can build it and, ultimately, where people can live."

The need for housing is far greater than the 15,000-unit goal, Curtis said, but the number still represents a "big commitment," and the mayor's office seems dedicated to it.

Greenberg said he has spent more than a year seeking input on the plan, called "My Louisville Home," and the city will continue to gather feedback through Nov. 3.

A final plan − along with a dashboard tracking new units − will be released Dec. 1, Greenberg said.

Background: Mayor Greenberg set a huge goal for building new affordable housing. So where's his plan?

Plan meant to address ongoing housing shortage

Greenberg's plan comes in response to a 2019 housing needs assessment that found Louisville was short more than 58,000 units affordable to low-income households − including 31,000 units affordable to those earning extremely low incomes.

Local housing advocates say those numbers are likely outdated, especially after large income fluctuations during the COVID-19 pandemic left many low-income households less stable than before.

Greenberg's administration has already started working to make a dent in the shortage by directing at least $37 million to be spent on affordable housing, including $22 million in American Rescue Plan funds and $15 million from the city's current budget.

City officials have also approved spending $1 million to buy the former Watson Lane Elementary School in southwest Louisville with the goal of turning it into affordable housing.

Marilyn Harris, director of Develop Louisville, said Greenberg's plan addresses hurdles and issues the city has faced for years. And it represents a major step toward getting new homes built in a way that benefits the entire community.

"It is not just a low-income housing plan," she said. "It is a plan for everybody. Because ... if we want to attract and get people into the community, we need to have affordable housing to build and grow our community."

Zoning changes, funding to take top focus

Greenberg called "My Louisville Home" a first-of-its-kind strategy that outlines significant investment and policy actions the city will take to spur development across Jefferson County.

Its key components include:

• Revising the Land Development Code to allow more density and remove regulatory barriers that hinder development;

• Boosting the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund through increased city support and a new dedicated funding source;

• Implementing innovative financing and construction methods, such as modular homes, that are more sustainable and quick to build;

• Creating long-term affordable homeownership opportunities through community land trusts and other programs;

• And incentivizing the renovation of vacant and abandoned properties for affordable housing.

Greenberg said revising the Land Development Code is imperative to "create vibrant, safe, affordable, clean and green corridors of opportunity across our entire city."

"The truth is that the housing development process we now have was designed for a much slower pace and a much slower city than the one we now live in," he said. "We have to revise this process so that we can get homes built more quickly and efficiently."

Louisville's Office of Planning and Design Services began reviewing the Land Development Code at the request of Metro Council in 2020, and the "most meaningful and urgent housing reforms" will require approval from the council, Greenberg said.

"We're already in conversations and I will continue to work with members of Metro Council to achieve our goal of creating and preserving 15,000 affordable housing units all across our city," he said.

To view Greenberg's full plan, visit louisvilleky.gov/mylouisville home.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville affordable housing: Mayor plans for 15,000 homes in 4 years