New project aims to invest in the community, provide more affordable housing – Wooster Daily Record

Samantha Ickes|The Daily Record

WOOSTER A group of community-minded people are looking to make a difference in the city by bringing affordable housing tothe area.

Chad Boreman, Justin Starlin and Tom White, along withseveral silent partners, would achieve the goal by investing in dilapidated houses and vacant lots. Investors are testing the model by constructing a single home in the 500 block of Larwill Street to see how the housing market responds.

The development group is not expecting the plan, in the early stages,to be a profitable venture, Boreman said.

"It's more of an experiment to see what can we do and how will this impact the community," he explained.

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The site was formerly the Larwill Mobile Home Park, which was sold to the development group in March 2019 after it closed and residents were relocated due todeterioration of the parks internal water system.

A single-family, 1,700-square-foot residence is under construction on the property and will serve as a model to future investors if the endeavor proves successful.

The idea behind the project is to invest in a home, which essentially will be sold at cost to reimburse investors for their financial support, or the money can stay within the investment group to be used in additional projects, Starlin said.

Making a profit is the last goal in mind for the development group, Boreman said.

"We thought this would be an opportunity to do something for the community and the neighborhood," he said. "There is severe need for moderate income housing in this community to support the businesses that want to grow and expand here."

Construction began on the ranch-style home in November. It will havethree bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a two-car garage.

Crews began constructionnot long after lumber prices hit historic highs. According to the National Association of Home Builders,lumber prices increased by nearly 120% since April, but have fallen roughly 20% since mid-September. The unprecedented lumber price spike added nearly $16,000 to the price of a typical new single-family home.

The project has been in the works for more than a year, Starlin said. Despite the challenges brought on by COVID, the developers were tired of waiting and had an eagerness to get started, he said.

The hope is for the home to be priced in the $170,000 range.It is expected to be completed by mid-February.

The Larwill property has the potential for up to eight houses to be added to the allotment.

Starlin said the idea would be to fill gaps in other Wooster neighborhoodswhere homes once stood but were torn down or are in need of some fixing up. Developers would be conscious of the design of the neighborhoods when determining the style of the new house, Starlin said.

The Larwill home is located within the city's Community Reinvestment Area, known as CRA, which will provide a tax break for the future homeowner, Starlin said. The site was approved for a 12-year, 100% tax abatement. The homebuyer essentially willsave an estimated $35,000 over the years by only needing to pay property taxes on the land as if it were a vacant lot. With the CRA, the homeowner will pay an estimated $100 in taxes annually.

"We think theres an opportunity to market it not only as a well-built home, but then also to take advantage of the savings through that tax incentive," Starlin explained. "We just went for it, and were going to see how the market responds."

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A number of businesses have rallied to support the effort, including MW Robinson Co., McClintockElectric, Heartland Title Agency, Apple Creek Banking Co. and Marinello Realty.

"This couldnt have came off the ground without the help of local folks," Boreman said. "... Were just trying to do something to help and get some good housing here."

Real estate agentAmy Marinello said she has worked with the developersand the partners on past projects, which made this project a good fit for the real estate agency.

There is a lack of inventory both inside city limits and across the county, Marinello said. There is a strong market for any affordable house, she said.

The average days on the market for a house in Wooster is 46.

According to numbers provided by Marinello Realty, the average price of a home between Jan. 1 and Dec. 16 of this year was $191,789. The newly built Larwill home is expected to be at the average cost or below.

Wooster is a strong community with jobs in manufacturing, atthe College of Wooster and at Wooster Community Hospital. Having housing for potential employees will support these industries as they expand their businesses, Marinello said.

Boreman has been involved with the Wayne County Community Improvement Corporation and the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce. He has heard concerns from several businesses about the need for more affordable housing.

Starlin, who led the chamber from 2013 until he stepped down from his role aspresident earlier this year, also is well aware of the challenges businesses face with retaining workers.

In June, several business leaders representing GOJO Industries, ArtiFlex Manufacturing, Schaeffler Group and TekFor Inc. expressed support for an affordable housing endeavor by local developer Jerry Baker during a Wooster City Council meeting. That project has since dissolved.

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Shelly Flint, human resources director at Schaeffler, said the unemployment rate in Wayne County is very low, and many businesses Schaeffler included are hiring. As businesses continue to hire associations, affordable housing will be an important part of a potential employee's decision to relocate to the Wooster area.

"Affordable housing must be a focus for our community," Flint said in an email statement."... When new employees move to our community, it is very positive for our local economy. Additionally, revitalizing areas and improving vacant lots make our Wooster community even more attractive."

Those businesses said having available and affordable housing will allow them to retain quality workers.

"Housing has been and continues to be a significant issue in the community," Starlin said.

The city and the county havedone a great job of taking care of blights that were beyond repair, Boreman said.Those homes have been taken out of the stock of available homes. There hasn't yet been the opportunity to replenish some of those homes, which is what this group of developers is looking to do, he explained.

"This is just one of probably hundreds of homes that we need in this community," Boreman said.

Reach Samantha at 330-287-1626

Email: Samantha.Ickes@the-daily-record.com

On Twitter: @SamanthaKIckes

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New project aims to invest in the community, provide more affordable housing - Wooster Daily Record