Weinland Park Community Civic Association

Housing Committee
Notes of the meeting of March 13, 2012
Joyce Hughes, president of the Weinland Park Community Civic Association, called the meeting
to order at 5:02 p.m. She introduced Rory Krupp and Omar Elhagmusa as the new co-chairs of
the committee.
Persons in attendance introduced themselves.
Mr. Krupp thanked Ahmed Ebady for his service as chair of the committee.
Joe Williams of Wagenbrenner Development gave an update on the new lease-to-purchase
houses being constructed by The NRP Group. He hopes to have a ribbon-cutting for the NRP
homes in late April that could involve public officials. He noted that the NRP house at the
southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Sixth Street is being constructed as gold-certified LEAD
home. All of the homes meet Enterprise green standards. In response to a question, Mr.
Williams said four of the 40 houses are fully ADA accessible and all of the houses incorporate
universal design.
Mr. Williams reported that nine of the 10 houses being removed with federal Neighborhood
Stabilization Program funds have been sold. Michael Amicon of Wagenbrenner said there is a
waiting list for the three-bedroom homes. Mr. Williams said the interest in these homes is
leading Wagenbrenner to consider the possibility of moving up the construction of the marketrate homes on the Columbus Coated Fabrics site. In response to a question, Mr. Williams said
that there is no lender required to be used for the NSP houses. He acknowledged that the citys
application process is arduous. Not all lenders have experience with the NSP process.
Turning to the vacant buildings along East 11th Avenue, Mr. Williams said Wagenbrenner has
received conditional approval from the Columbus Historic Resources Commission for the
renovation of these housing units. Wagenbrenner will submit the application for state historic tax
credits at the end of March. Mr. Williams thinks that the application will score pretty well. Mr.
Williams said the project cost is estimated at about $10 million with about $3 million of that in
historic preservation tax credits. Two buildings will be torn down, leaving a total of about 90
units.
Mr. Williams said Rockford Homes has been chosen to be the builder on the vacant property at
East Eighth Avenue and North Fourth Street. Wagenbrenner Development has spent a great deal

of time in the city process of approving the platting of the site. The initial construction will be
six houses, plus four additional houses as financing becomes available.
Mr. Williams said Wagenbrenner Development has talked with The NRP Group about
developing a senior citizen housing project on the Columbus Coated Fabrics site. The project
would be in an L-shaped building at the northeast corner of East Fifth Avenue and North Grant
Avenue. The design of the building hasnt been determined. Mary Hada of The NRP Group said
that Weinland Park has been the best Columbus neighborhood to build in by far. She offered to
set up a tour of Hawthorn Village, NRPs new senior housing building in Franklinton. The
proposed building would have one- and two-bedroom units with storage on each floor, a fitness
room, a community room, laundry room, raised beds for gardens, on-site manager, onsitemaintenance person, and supportive services. The building would be built to Enterprise green
standards. Ms. Hada said Hawthorn rented up in about six months. The rents in Hawthorn range
from about $350 to $600 per month. The units would be for persons 55 years of age and older.
In response to a question about the project attracting more low-income people into the
neighborhood, Ms. Hada said that seniors who qualify for this housing represent a greater range
of income levels than low-income family housing. Mr. Williams said he felt the project would
not impede the eventual development of market-rate housing on the CCF site. Ms. Hada said it
would likely be 60 to 70 units. Mr. Williams said the building would be three or four stories.
Ms. Hada said the tax credit applications are about 500 pages and are due in November 2012
with the possibility of an award in the spring of 2013. If the application is approved, the
construction could begin within nine months of the award.
Mr. Williams said that even though the application isnt due until November, there is a lot of
work to be done because the appropriate zoning must be in place for the Columbus Coated
Fabrics site. He said that the project will be reviewed by the University Area Commission.
In response to a question, Mr. Williams explained that he had worked previously on senior
housing projects and brought the idea to Wagenbrenner Development. He said Wagenbrenner
has had a good relationship with The NRP Group, which is an experienced developer of these
projects.
Mr. Elhagmusa said he had concerns with what he had heard about problems in Franklinton with
residents moving into new houses constructed by NRP. Joyce Hughes also expressed concern
about Weinland Park residents qualifying for the NRP homes. Mr. Elhagmusa asked that there be
a transition strategy from NRP regarding the eight houses that will be completed and moved into
each month in Weinland Park. Ms. Hughes said that she and Susan Colbert are meeting regularly
with the NRP management regarding the approval of residents for the NRP homes. Ms. Colbert
said she is in the process of bringing on a staff member to work with residents in Weinland Park
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who are moving into the NRP houses. Her work is funded as part of the financing package for
the NRP project.
The committee discussed having the NRP management team for the lease-to-purchase houses in
Weinland Park attend the next meeting of the Housing Committee. Mr. Williams and Ms. Hada
said they would request that NRP representatives attend the next committee meeting.
The business of the committee being concluded, Mr. Krupp adjourned the meeting at 6:35 p.m.

Notes prepared by Steve Sterrett.