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Struthers mayor outlines plan to build eight workforce homes using state grant
Summary
Mayor Miller told City Council the city will partner with Pantheon Builders using a $2,750,000 Ohio Department of Development grant to construct eight workforce homes; Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation will handle marketing, sales and compliance and sale proceeds will be recycled into future land-reuse projects.
Mayor Miller said the city will use a $2,750,000 grant awarded to Pantheon Builders through the Ohio Department of Development to build eight homes in Struthers and that the homes should be completed by the end of the year and sold early next year.
The mayor said the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and the Mahoning County Land Bank will handle applicant screening, marketing and sales. “YNDC is handling all of that for us because we would need to hire three, four more people,” Miller said. He added the city will receive the sale proceeds back into a land-reutilization fund to support further development projects.
The mayor gave a price range and income-qualification details discussed in the meeting: he said the homes may cost about $310,000 to build and that the program limits resale prices to up to $220,000. He also said applicants must meet an income threshold tied to 220% of area median income, a figure the mayor described as an update from earlier program language.
Miller described a compliance period and administration arrangement: he said YNDC will manage program compliance, liens and required counseling and that the program includes a 20-year maintenance/monitoring obligation tied to the grant terms. The mayor said some fee for YNDC’s services will come out of the project’s proceeds.
Council members asked about city control over buyers and pricing. A councilmember asked whether the city would interview buyers; Miller replied that the city is not selling the houses directly and that YNDC will conduct applicant screening and loan counseling. He also said the city will regain sale proceeds and “put that money back into the land reutilization so that we can put it into further development projects going forward.”
Miller said the city has been assembling property and working with Youngstown State University on a survey of tax-delinquent properties and that officials plan to invite Ian Bennison of YNDC to a future meeting to explain the program and eligibility in more detail.
The mayor and council framed the program as part of a longer-term effort to repopulate the city and to reduce the number of vacant or tax-delinquent properties held by the city.
