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Cincinnati's affordable housing fund is seeing results. Leaders say consistent support is needed

cincinnati's skyline
Jake Blucker
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The Affordable Housing Leverage Fund has financed the creation or preservation of about 1,800 units of income-restricted housing in Hamilton County over the last two years.

It's a notable bump in the typical rate of local development, especially considering the significant increase in costs.

"In the last two years, compared to the previous five years, we did about three times more units per year despite a 45% increase in cost," said Council member Mark Jeffreys.

RELATED: How the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway is impacting local affordable housing

The leverage fund is a combination of money from the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and private donations. It’s managed by the Cincinnati Development Fund, which decides how to distribute the money to developers as loans or grants.

CDF Chief Strategy Officer Luke Blocher says the fund has been successful because of a few key strategies, especially by building a one-stop shop for developers to access multiples sources and types of investment.

"Every decision we make is made because we have all these different sources working together," Blocher said. "None of that is possible if you have all these split up into different pieces ... [when] the actual developer trying to build the housing has to go work and figure out the timing of the five different places they have to go to, and that inevitably drags things out and sometimes kills things entirely."

Blocher says the next challenge is ensuring consistent funding over the next few years; most of the money spent so far came from one-time contributions rather than ongoing commitments.

"The sort of uncertainty at the federal level really hones in on why this type of local leadership is so important if we're really going to have results," he said.

RELATED: Council approves tax abatement extensions to preserve affordable housing

Where the money came from

Both the city and county contributed funds from the federal stimulus American Rescue Plan Act. The only ongoing, annual contribution comes from Cincinnati's short-term rental tax (between $1 million and $1.5 million per year) and up to $5 million a year from the city's annual carryover budget.

"It really is an enormous opportunity that can impact and change the market for people who are doing development," Blocher said. "If we can provide certainty of when funding is available and how much, loosely ... that is a real big deal for people who are trying to build housing, because that's not the way it usually is set up."

Where the money went

The Affordable Housing Leverage Fund has committed about $74.3 million to 54 projects from September 2022 through September 2024.

That includes a total of 1,907 units. Of those, 1,803 income-restricted units will be created or preserved.

Most of the affordable units — 1,529, or 85% — will be reserved for households making 60% or less of the Area Median Income. That's about $44,000 for a single person household; about $63,000 for a family of four.

City data shows 1,280 units of affordable housing were approved between 2017 and 2021, an average of 256 units per year. The AHLF funded 1,430 affordable units in the city over the two-year reporting period, an average of 715 units per year.

Learn more about the leverage fund performance in the presentation slides below:

Local Government Reporter with a particular focus on Cincinnati; experienced journalist in public radio and television throughout the Midwest. Enthusiastic about: civic engagement, public libraries, and urban planning.