January 25, 2017 at 6:29 p.m.

Study shows some housing need

Study shows some housing need
Study shows some housing need

By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

Bill Bradley hears the same thing regularly when visiting local businesses: Portland does not have enough available at-market housing.

A recently completed study shows some such need. But it also indicates that the greatest area of need is in the low-income bracket.

The National Land Advisory Group study, commissioned by Jay County Development Corporation, suggests a development plan that would include 18 to 24 new homes in the next three to five years.

“We show some moderate demand, but not as much demand as I thought, frankly, that I would see,” said Bradley of the need for at-market housing. “I was expecting a little bit more demand.”

The area of far greater demand is for new apartment units, with the study’s development plan suggesting 136 to 162 new units, mostly in the low- and very low-income category.

“One of the challenges we have is that wage levels haven’t kept up in this community so that people can even consider buying a house,” Bradley added. “That’s a real challenge. If you start looking at income levels … the demand, at least according to the study, is for houses below $99,000 …”

The study from National Land Advisory Group, a company in Columbus, Ohio, bases its findings on the analysis of a variety of demographic and economic statistics looking at “area perception” and growth, supply and demand and a survey of available housing.

In terms of single-family housing, it concludes the Portland area could sustain a maximum of 72 additional units over the next three to five years. It proposes the addition of 18 to 24 units, with about two-thirds of those in the $70,000 to $149,000 range and the remainder in the $150,000 to $299,000 range.

Based on that information, Bradley believes it would be worthwhile for the city to pursue the addition of a small housing subdivision.

It’s been more than 20 years since the last such project, Golf Brook Estates south of the city, was constructed in the early 1990s.

“I think if we would experiment with maybe a 15-site housing subdivision, I think there would be demand for that,” he said. “And we’re not talking $250,000 houses. We’re talking in the $150,000 to $200,000 range.

“I think there would be significant demand for people who want to come back here or maybe are working here but living somewhere else right now.”

The housing study is the first step toward that possibility.

Bradley will next discuss the findings from the study with area developers, such as Ideal Homes in Decatur. The goal, he said, is to gauge interest in such a project with hopes of moving forward in the next several years.

He acknowledged that because the city would be looking at 20 houses or fewer, there would likely need to be some public-private cooperation in the area of utilities in order to make such a project more attractive to developers.

The study does show, however, that Portland’s population has been trending slightly upward, increasing by 2.1 percent since 2010. It further projects another 1.9 percent increase by 2021.

On the other hand, the study shows a slight annual decrease in median household income recently from a peak of $50,900 in 2013 to $48,600 last year.

It’s that wage stagnation and decline, as well as the aging population, that point to the need for more low-income housing. It suggests the addition of 136 to 162 apartment units over the next three to five years, with 52-60 in the low-income range and 60 to 66 in the very low-income range. Of those low- or very low-income units, it says about a third should be targeted at elderly residents.

Whether or not to continue to build more low-income housing is a difficult question, said Bradley, especially when the overall economic development goal is to attract higher-paying jobs to the area.

“I have mixed feelings on that. Just because there’s demand doesn’t necessarily mean we have to do that,” he said. “On the other hand, I know if a developer comes to the city for something like that, the city has to consider it.”

 
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