Dayton will get $138 million in federal funds to help recover from the coronavirus crisis. The city is vetting 35 community project applications to determine if they will be awarded more than $19 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation.
The projects have gone through an initial screening process and have been recommended to receive awards worth between $25,000 and $2.5 million.
“We are still in the process of reviewing all applications (that were approved to move to the next phase) for eligibility against the Treasury’s Final Rule,” said Toni Bankston, a city spokesperson.
Four of the top five recommended projects would create new housing or would repair, renovate or modernize existing units.
National Church Residences, a not-for-profit owner and operator of affordable senior housing communities, could receive a $2 million award.
The organization, which is the largest nonprofit senior housing provider in the nation, wants to use that money to help build a new senior community for middle-income residents in northwest Dayton, said Todd Hutchins, PR director with National Church Residences.
National Church Residences has 14 senior communities in the Dayton region, including apartments at Grand Place (70 units), Huffman Place (86) and Hoover Place (144).
The project will create 80 to 90 apartment units, which could house about 130 senior residents, Hutchins said, and the new building could open in the next three years.
“This underserved group of seniors would have a place to ‘stay home for life’ in the community where they grew up, made friends and raised a family,” Hutchins said. “The new development also could act as a catalyst for additional building in the area.”
St. Mary Development Corp. could get a $1.5 million award to help build 78 new affordable housing units for seniors who want independent living.
The new four-story apartment building would be constructed near the entrance of its Hoover campus in West Dayton, near 281 existing apartments, said Tim Bete, president of St. Mary Development Corp.
The Hoover senior community campus, located at 5407 Hoover Ave., offers market-rate, affordable and very-low-income rental housing, Bete said, and the funds also will help add a new health clinic and outdoor event and meeting spaces.
“Despite the pandemic and an average resident income of $13,500, 76% of Hoover Campus residents say their quality of life is ‘very good’ or ‘somewhat good,’ Bete told this newspaper. “This is because of the high-quality, affordable housing combined with service coordination and partner organization programs.”
A project to redevelop the former Longfellow school complex into about 125 to 130 new housing units also has been recommended for a $1.5 million allocation.
The project will provide a congregate living setting for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are 55 and older, said Terry Spitznagel, senior vice president and chief growth officer with United Church Homes, a partner on the project.
The Longfellow campus, at 245 Salem Ave., will have amenities like a theater and possibly an aqua farm to provide healthy food options, developers said.
The project, which seeks to create a campus-like environment, won about $1.8 million in state historic tax credits last year to assist with the conversion into senior apartments.
“The vision for the Longfellow Midtown campus will evolve into a new neighborhood village, which will be welcoming to neighbors for events and services not currently available, such as arts, entertainment, and educational programming,” Spitznagel said.
Rebuilding Together Dayton has been recommended to receive $1.8 million for its Seasonal Safe@Home program, which assists low-income senior homeowners with urgent home repairs and modifications, said Amy Radachi, the group’s president and CEO.
“Neighborhoods will have greater stability as the current housing stock will be preserved, there will be a decrease in disparity of property values within neighborhoods and the identity/assets of neighborhoods will be preserved,” she said.
Other recommended projects include a proposal to build about 28 new single-family homes in the Wolf Creek neighborhood in West Dayton and another to construct 20 cottage-style homes in Old North Dayton for kinship care.
Wolf Creek homes is an in-fill project that will improve the neighborhood with new families, said Steve Naas, president of County Corp, the applicant. The project has been recommended for a $300,000 allocation.
Dayton Children’s Hospital’s kinship housing project is an innovative model to support grandparents, uncles, aunts and other caregivers who take care of children of family members, said Jessica Saunders, executive director of the Center for Health Equity at Dayton Children’s.
“Oftentimes, there are few supports for these families and housing becomes a challenging issue,” she said.
The project has been recommended to receive $500,000.
The largest potential funding award — of $2.5 million — could go to Homefull, which wants to redevelop a 16-acre site in West Dayton into new uses, including a new food and health facility.
The facility, at the former Carlson Elementary School site at 807 S. Gettysburg Ave., would house a full-service grocery store, a regional food hub, an entrepreneurial market, a health care clinic, pharmacy and community education center.
Homefull also hopes to build housing on the site, though that part of the project was not part of the organization’s request for federal funds.
About the Author
