Montgomery County Land Bank joins Oberer in plans for Wolf Creek housing
Apr. 13—Armed with new funding, the Montgomery County Land Bank is partnering with developer Oberer Cos. to build single-family homes in Dayton's Wolf Creek neighborhood.
Construction of the housing will begin this summer, the land bank said.
The Land Bank has received $3.1 million from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to remove blighted properties from local neighborhoods.
In Dayton's Wolf Creek neighborhood, the Land Bank will transfer cleared titles of 21 demolition sites to County Corp Affordable Housing, a nonprofit affordable-housing agency. A grant from OHFA's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to the agency and its co-developer, Oberer, will make possible new, single-family homes built as affordable rentals.
"This project gives people an opportunity to build wealth that they wouldn't otherwise have," County Corp's vice president of Housing, Adam Blake, said in a Land Bank announcement on the project. "It will also result in an $8 million investment that will help stabilize the Wolf Creek neighborhood."
Near the the Wright-Dunbar Neighborhood, Wolf Creek is located just west of the Great Miami River, roughly north of West Third Street and south of Wolf Creek, extending west to James H. McGee Boulevard.
The tax-credit program allows a developer to claim tax credits over a decade to offset construction costs. In exchange for the credits, the company must keep rents affordable and limit occupancy to residents with low-to-moderate-incomes for at least 30 years, when the units may be sold at market rate.
"Filling in these lots with housing will be a positive sign to encourage other developers to look at Wolf Creek," said Oberer Chief Financial Officer Bob McCann. "Without the Land Bank clearing the titles, this project wouldn't have gotten off the ground."
"This project is a great example of the Land Bank's ripple effect in the community," Land Bank executive director Mike Grauwelman said.
Since 2014, the Land Bank has been awarded $21.2 million and demolished over 1,200 nuisance structures in nine partner communities.
