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Thrive West Central says ARPA investments helped spur hundreds of new housing units in Vigo County
Summary
Thrive West Central told the Vigo County Council it has used ARPA and other public funds to support dozens of housing projects, reporting roughly $3 million in public investment tied to about $94 million in market-value development and county-funded support for at least 94 housing units.
Ryan Keller, chief executive officer of Thrive West Central, told the Vigo County Council that the nonprofit has used federal ARPA dollars and related public funding to help attract private housing development across the county.
Thrive has invested “a little over $3,000,000 of public dollars” that, Keller said, correspond to roughly $94,000,000 in market-value building in Vigo County. Keller told the council that, on projects funded with the county’s ARPA dollars alone, 94 housing units have been developed so far and that a larger total — shown on Thrive’s slides as 379 — will grow as developers complete later phases.
Keller said the county funding is intended to “de-risk” projects by helping cover infrastructure costs that private developers find prohibitive, not to subsidize buyers. “We are building housing that is affordable, rather than the traditional sense of the way as affordable housing,” Keller said, describing a range of units aimed at many income levels. He added the typical subsidy per unit so far has been modest: about $16,000 for infill single-family lots, roughly $4,976 for apartment units and about $5,800 for townhomes.
Nut graf: The presentation framed the Thrive program as a public–private tool to unlock developments developers otherwise would not build because of infrastructure costs and market risk. Keller told the council Thrive’s investments are small per unit and meant to prompt further private-sector building once infrastructure is in place.
Keller said developers are currently marketing units either directly or through local realtors and through a platform Thrive is partnering with called Club 720, which offers down-payment assistance and other buyer outreach. Responding to Councilman Ellis’s question, “How...are these marketed?” Keller said builders market projects locally and Thrive is working with Club 720 to create a dedicated web page to showcase Vigo County projects to a wider, potentially out‑of‑state audience.
Keller also described timing and program deadlines: ARPA funds for some county programs must be expended by the end of 2026; Thrive expects Ready Round 1 awards to be spent by the end of 2025, and a second Ready round of funding to roll out toward 2028. He said many projects now in the pipeline reflect only the phase that applied for funding, so the total number of units built as projects proceed will be larger than the current counts.
Council members asked about local participation and labor. Keller said most developers working with Thrive are local and that builders report reaching capacity because of labor constraints. “We’ve maxed out all of the builders that we can find here locally,” Keller said, and added Thrive is encouraging more local participation where possible.
Ending: Keller said Thrive will return next quarter with another update and that the program’s next steps include awarding additional 2025 pipeline projects and completing the Club 720 marketing page. Council discussion during and after the presentation focused on program mechanics, marketing and whether local builders have capacity to continue the current pace of construction.
