The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) is working on drafting the rules for the newly created Single-Family Housing Tax Credit program that provides $50 million a year in ten-year tax credits, for four years, to incentivize the construction of new single-family homes for Ohio’s growing workforce. OHFA facilitates the development, rehabilitation, and financing of low- […]
The Ohio General Assembly has started the process to gain input from community leaders on what state of Ohio capital budget community projects and the newly created Community Investment Fund should be proposed for planned legislation. A lot like the state operating budget, the state capital budget is passed every 2 years, in the second […]
Ohio’s Supermajority Republican General Assembly, Republican slate of statewide officeholders and an overwhelming Republican Congressional Delegation does not mean the state’s voters will always following a conservative patch. Ohio voters in the November 2023 election proved that perspective when they voted in support of an abortion rights amendment to the Ohio Constitution and a legislative […]
Following the definition of an urban Downtowns economic development challenge, companies and communities need to implement an action plan based upon focusing on the opportunities for the Downtown and the region based upon the building block of all successful economies- focus on creating a diverse market from growing industries. Downtowns can continue to thrive by […]
Guest Column by Retail Strategies Retail and restaurants play a big part in a vibrant downtown, but it can be challenging for city and community leaders to understand their downtown real estate and how you can be proactive in its development. Whether you have a completely vacant Main Street or have recently had positive momentum […]
Rising interest rates, bank collapses, and potential additional federal regulation have created substantial challenges for communities and developers hoping to create new housing opportunities. Housing studies, streamlined zoning regulation, and parking subsidies can all help develop housing in urban, suburban, and rural markets but larger public subsidies in the near term are likely to be […]
The urban Downtown office market is facing a crisis which is only going to get worse. The Downtown office vacancy rates from Cushman and Wakefield’s 2023 analysis as outlined in the chart below in the major urban markets throughout the Great Lakes illustrate substantial struggles with the current Downtown office markets. This data is of […]
The Great Lakes region’s housing stock is a critical corporate site location advantage. Housing is joining workforce development to become a major corporate site location issue. Regions not growing are failing to develop substantial residential growth. Finally, rural regions are losing population at an alarming rate and desperately need new residential products to retain existing […]