Council committee advances conveyance of Hudson Avenue parcels for Welcome Home Ohio housing project

The Planning & Development Committee voted to advance an ordinance that would transfer surplus city-owned parcels on Hudson Avenue to Community Building Partners as part of the state's Welcome Home Purchase program.

Director Stone explained the parcels include a storage building and an adjacent fenced lot previously used for impound and storage; the city must briefly take title to each completed home in a single-day transaction to trigger the state grant mechanism. Joe Ritchie, CEO of Community Building Partners, told the committee the developer's plan calls for eight prefabricated homes at the Hudson site, including at least one ADA-accessible unit, with a delivery timeline of about 90 days from site start to homeowner keys.

Ritchie said completing eight homes is the threshold to qualify for the full $2,000,000 Welcome Home grant and that the developer will market homes to income-qualified buyers who have completed counseling and meet credit requirements. He said a separate adjacent parcel the developer is negotiating to buy from the American Red Cross would expand capacity but did not require city conveyance tonight because the city does not own that parcel.

Committee Chair Swank and other members discussed timing for the Red Cross closing and whether the city should consider suspending rules to expedite introduction at the next regular meeting. The committee moved the ordinance to first reading for the next council session; members asked staff to coordinate scheduling with President McCarrie to ensure quorum for any potential rule suspension.