2020 is shaping up to be a big year for the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) – CMHA will invest $247 million in 2020 to acquire or renovate more than 1,400 units of affordable and workforce housing, and by the end of 2020, CMHA will have converted 100% of its public housing stock to Project-Based Vouchers.
CMHA CEO Charles Hillman told Columbus Business First that creating and renovating mixed-income communities, such as the nearly completed $120 million redevelopment of CMHA’s 450-unit Poindexter Village, is part of the housing authority’s development strategy. "Our business model to (grow) has been the market-rate housing as a generator of revenue at the same time we expand the footprint of affordability," said Hillman. "We're driving full force ahead on that."
In 2019, CMHA closed nine major real estate deals, acquiring 947 housing units at a cost of $98.1 million, and spent $21.4 million on portfolio improvements and new construction.
One of CMHA’s current projects is the addition of 30 housing units to Scholar House, the housing authority’s property intended for youth aging out of foster care, at a cost of $7.8 million. You can learn more about CMHA’s Scholar House in CLPHA’s report “Eliminating Barriers to Postsecondary Success: Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve Postsecondary Achievement for Students Served by Public Housing Authorities,” which explores PHAs and their education sector partners’ efforts to increase educational attainment among public housing residents and housing- insecure college students in their communities. The report also offers learnings and policy recommendations based on successful housing-education partnerships like those that support the residents of CMHA’s Scholar House.