CINCINNATI — Project managers from building companies across the city stood beside Mayor Aftab Pureval, City Manager Sheryl Long and council member Reggie Harris on Monday as the city awarded $7.1 million from its Notice of Funding Availability program.

The nine projects earning the funding dollars will create a combined 266 new affordable units and preserve 142 existing units through renovation. All of the projects target households making 30% to 80% of the city’s Area Median Income.

What You Need To Know

  • Nine projects aim to create 266 new units and preserve 142 units

  • The projects span nine different neighborhoods

  • 70% of the units target households at 30% to 60% AMI

To Harris, the chair of the Equitable Growth and Housing Committee, the award is about ensuring these projects can make an impact in the city as soon as possible. 

“They now get to go put the shovel in the ground,” he said. “They don’t have to come back to the city and go back to a different process and add on weeks and sometimes even months just due to our calendar and everything that we have going on. So this is a real example of the impact when we think smartly about city administration.”

Projects span the West End, Avondale, OTR and Pendelton, Northside, Paddock Hills, Walnut Hills, Lower Price Hill, East Price Hill and Evanston and were awarded between $291,000 to $1 million in city funds to ensure their completion.

“I think is a real sort of strategic move to think about how do we sort of capitalize on increased investment and also think about where development needs to happen and projects that are going to get across the finish line.”

To the mayor, part of that strategy is building housing across income brackets. While 70% of these projects target households at 30% to 60% AMI, Pureval said new builds benefit everyone in Cincinnati.

“This is but a piece of that to increase the number of units that will hopefully work to decrease the property tax and rents through the city,” he said. 

Another important piece is the rehabilitation. These projects will provide both reducing blight and ensuring a standard of living for units across income brackets. 

“Often times in order to create we have to destroy and rehabilitating current units helps us stabilize housing that oftentimes is already occupied while also improving the quality and also improving in some instances the affordability,” Pureval said.

For a full list of award recipients and their projects, click here.