Kokomo retools urban infill program
May 23—The city of Kokomo is retooling its urban infill program.
City officials announced this week they are partnering with the Kokomo Community Development Corporation to offer vacant KCDC-owned lots free to developers, who then can build either single-family, multifamily or commercial properties on the lots.
The KCDC is the city's nonprofit arm that primarily funds the neighborhood urban infill program and other housing and community-based economic development projects in low-income areas. Its president is Andy Hardie, of local real estate company The Hardie Group.
Prospective developers must sign a development agreement and are required to complete building the structure within one year. If the developer fails to live up to the agreement, the KCDC may take the title to the property back.
Other requirements, according to a program guideline uploaded to the city's website, dictate the residential developments must include a covered front porch at least 5 feet in depth for at least 25% of the front face; central air conditioning; and a roof overhang of at least 12 inches.
Developers must also be current on property taxes on any other property they own in Howard County and have no current housing or building code violations. There's a limit of three "sale IDs," though applicants can list up to six sale IDs in order of preference. Applications can be filled out at cityofkokomo.org/departments/development/new_page.php and are awarded on a first come, first serve basis.
The guidelines prohibit any of the following to be built on the residential development's exterior:
* A car port
* Treated lumber, unless covered by another opaque material
* Stone parking areas
* Staircases leading to the upper stories
According to a city press release, there are 132 lots available through the urban infill program.
"We will finally turn decades-long, vacant eyesores into new, affordable housing for Kokomo families," Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore said in a prepared statement.
The retooling of the urban infill program comes at a time when the city is actively courting developers to meet the city's need for new housing.
A recent housing study commissioned by the city found between 400 and 500 multifamily units and between 230-340 new single-family homes will be needed in the coming years to meet current and future demand and expected population growth.
The city's urban infill program was launched in 2017 under the previous Greg Goodnight administration. At the time, the city partnered with Indiana-based SRKM architecture to create five housing designs so it could construct new single-family, market-rate homes on vacant and underutilized lots.
The program was initially funded to a tune of nearly $2 million. Sale proceeds of the houses were funneled back into the program to construct new houses. In the last handful of years, though, the city has moved away from constructing houses due to rising costs.
Instead, in the last four years under Moore, the city has focused on gifting vacant properties to private developers.
One notable example is local nonprofit Bridges Outreach, which has renovated and sold eight local properties to first-time homeowners.
Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.
