CITY CONSIDERS INVESTING AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS TO REDEVELOP BEECHWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

CITY CONSIDERS INVESTING AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS TO REDEVELOP BEECHWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

A $2.4 million injection of American Rescue Plan Funds into additional housing across all economic levels is on the agenda for Tuesday’s New Albany Redevelopment Commission Meeting.

Recently, the City completed a housing study to learn more about the current housing stock in New Albany, as well as future projections and needs. The data showed a clear need for all types of housing in New Albany, including affordable housing and market-rate housing. Information and data that the City has received from the Southern Indiana Realtor Association also shows the need for additional market-rate housing to be constructed. To read more about the study, click HERE

“We have been working on improving housing for the last decade through the elimination of blight and demolition of unsafe structures, improving private and public housing options, and the implementation of rental registration and inspection,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “We are so excited that the American Rescue Plan has given us the opportunity to accelerate improvements being made.”

BEECHWOOD REHABILITATION TO BE CONSIDERED

Outside of Gary Indiana, the City of New Albany hosts the largest public housing compound in the state of Indiana, with a large majority of public housing residents concentrated within the Beechwood property. The property was built as a World War II Barrack-style structure during the war, but since 2010, the federal Housing and Urban Development department has faced a $138 million maintenance cost shortfall, causing the property to fall into disrepair. Maintenance teams are also currently undergoing asbestos, lead paint, and mold identification and potential removal.

The old and dated structures, combined with the lack of federal funding to properly maintain them, has forced the Housing Authority to look at a total remodel, something that has never been done before in New Albany.

Plans are calling for a $28 million overhaul to the Beechwood property, a redesign and reconstruction of the hard-to-access and isolated roadways, and the removal of the dated barracks-style structures.

83 newly constructed units are planned for the property with a combination of both public housing AND market-rate housing, with the goal of having mixed-income levels reside in the neighborhood. The barracks style structures will be replaced with a mix of 53 single family and duplex style homes that fit the historic character of surrounding neighborhoods, 30 senior-preferred apartments, and 12 lots to be sold for future home ownership at a market-rate. This is the first development in the state of Indiana that will mix private home ownership into an affordable housing development.

Beechwood is centrally located within the city, very near to grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, parks and recreation (like the adjacent Silver Street Park), and convenience stores. City officials and NAHA are also in talks with TARC to relocate a TARC stop within the new development, improving transportation access for residents of the neighborhood.

THE BUSINESS OF RESIDENCY

Cities across America are competing for residents. Over the past decade, the City of New Albany has focused to improve quality of life for all residents. We have invested to create a state-of-the-art parks system, the Ohio River Greenway, and the New Albany Shoreline expansion. We added sidewalks and improved roadways, and improved stormwater drainage, and we have been supportive of large investments in our local public schools and private businesses.

Now, people want to live in New Albany – they want to be near great parks, great schools, and great amenities – and now, we need to develop additional paths to residency and home ownership in New Albany.

Over 900 units are currently under construction throughout the city, from additional apartments to single-family homes and townhomes. New apartments are being constructed at the Lancaster Lofts, Landings at Silver Run, Monon Crossing, Arbor Place expansion, and others. New single family homes and townhomes are being constructed along Vincennes Street, Autumn Grove, Windsor Creek, and Bridlewood, with other market-rate housing projects in the current pipeline.

New market rate homes are coming along the New Albany Shoreline. Future trails expansion is also underway, as the City has began preliminary work on a new housing development at the former Moser Tannery property. Other market-rate single family housing is also being added to infill projects throughout New Albany.

RENTAL REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION

In 2016, the City of New Albany passed a rental registration program aimed at preventing the deterioration of residential housing, assisting in compliance of minimum rental housing standards, improving safety for residents, protecting the character and stability of residential neighborhoods, and preserving and increasing property values throughout the city.

A large percentage of rental landlords have complied with the new procedures and registered their properties, and now, plans are underway to implement the Rental Inspection Plan adopted in 2019. More details about the rental property inspections are expected to be finalized in early 2022.