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Port outlines single‑family work, land bank purchases and home‑repair programs across city neighborhoods
Summary
The Port presented a citywide update on single‑family housing activity — including a 194‑house acquired portfolio, neighborhood new‑builds and homeowner repair grants — and highlighted contractor inclusion and pilot programs for solar and modular construction.
The Port of Greater Cincinnati provided the Equitable Growth and Housing Committee an update on single‑family housing and land bank activity, detailing acquisitions, renovations, sales and homeowner repair programs across multiple neighborhoods.
Phil Denning, speaking for the Port, said the agency and its managed entities have built and sold roughly 210 houses in the city over the last eight years and now manage a 194‑house portfolio acquired three years ago (the CARE portfolio). Denning said 60 of those houses were vacant at acquisition; to date the Port has sold 47 from the portfolio at an average sale price “just under $150,000.” He described acquisition and renovation work to stabilize units and tenants, with targeted assistance (rent forgiveness and repairs) provided to preserve family stability while vacant units were rehabbing for sale.
Denning outlined neighborhood projects: Avondale (three phases with homes for sale income‑restricted at 80–120% AMI under ARPA rules); Walnut Hills (infill new builds and modular examples); Sedamsville (a complex portfolio acquisition of 65 parcels — 41 vacant land, 23 structures — where the Port used state Welcome Home Ohio funds, county ARPA and other sources to stabilize historic assets and prepare for phased rehabs); and a long‑running homeowner repair grant program funded by the land bank to make repairs for long‑time low‑income homeowners (up to $15,000 per household in some programs).
On costs and outcomes, Denning said the Port has spent, on average, about $75,000 on acquisition and roughly $75,000–$80,000 on renovation for the houses sold from the CARE portfolio, resulting in an average subsidy to each sale of about $10,000–$15,000. Denning also highlighted procurement outcomes: the Port achieved roughly 57% minority contractor spend and 71% small‑business spend on the CARE renovations, which he described as exceeding internal targets and supporting small local contractors.
Committee members asked about scale and sustainability. Council members sought more detail about whether renovated properties could be sold first to local renters or residents and whether acquisition costs are a barrier to scaling the model. Denning said stabilization, acquisition price and the availability of subsidy are the main constraints; he identified philanthropy and nonprofit partners as possible options to convert debt and free Port capacity for additional acquisitions.
Denning said the Port is pursuing pilots that include solar installations (some rooftop solar retained by a green bank/Port for five years before transfer to the homeowner), modular construction pilots and novel ownership models such as shared‑equity and community land trusts. Committee members expressed interest in scaling homeowner repair programs and in the Sedamsville redevelopment, where Denning noted the neighborhood’s low market values and complicated regulatory environment (historic district and floodplain/steep topography) limit finance options.
The committee filed the presentation; members expressed support and asked for follow‑up on contractor outreach, sale pricing and options to prioritize local residents in sales.
