Greater Cincinnati's housing shortage is a tough knot of issues. There's rising building costs; tension between rising property taxes and funding for schools and other services; difficulty getting financing for first-time homebuyers; and the obstacles facing organizations looking to build housing for low-and-moderate -income residents.
A new research lab is looking to tackle some of those problems.
The Housing Innovation Lab is a partnership between the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center, LISC Greater Cincinnati, banks like Fifth-Third, developers like Model Group, and a number of other organizations.
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) says the lab is one part of broader efforts to catalyze housing investment. Director of Housing and Place-Based Initiatives Ron Stubblefield says he's excited about the holistic approach.
"When you step back and look at the critical housing challenges across the nation, you realize it's challenges on the developer's side with construction costs; it's challenges with capital; it's challenges with accessing homeownership; it's challenges with broader policies and community development efforts," Stubblefield said.
One idea? A regional hub that could potentially pre-fabricate housing components in order to lower construction costs. The approach, known as modular housing, has worked for some local developers. Stubblefield says the lab is launching a feasibility study to see if it can be expanded, with an initial report due in November.
"Can we generate, and is there ... enough willingness and demand, to bring in a modular production facility so we can hopefully start producing housing at scale with the idea of lowering construction costs?" Stubblefield said.
Other initiatives the lab is already taking on include investigating how to better finance multi-family housing as well as more affordable mortgage loans for homeowners. In the future, the lab wants to investigate potential tax abatement policy reforms that could navigate the tricky balance between government funding and tax burdens on homeowners, especially those of low and moderate incomes.
"Our goal through the lab here is to take what seem to be distinct silos and unify them so we have an effective housing delivery system that the region deserves," Stubblefield said.
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