EDITORIAL: Housing incentive plan launches
Aug. 9—It is good to see the city of Joplin has launched the prototype run of a plan to replace rundown houses with new homes by offering builder incentives.
The incentives will subsidize the cost of demolishing five rundown properties and replacing them with new houses as part of Joplin's new housing revitalization program.
Addressing declining neighborhoods is a priority among the six goals set by the Joplin City Council after a series of listening sessions in 2020. Voters passed a use tax to support action on the goals, but the council approved $1 million to be taken from the city's general fund to get this pilot program for housing started.
The plan is promising and its goals are laudable.
Four incentives were granted to Schuber-Mitchell Homes and one to 13th Street Properties.
Incentives are based on a graduated scale tied to the selling price of the home. They are not paid out by the city until the new house is appraised, and that value determines the exact subsidy. Individually, the houses are expected to be priced at $175,000 to $256,000. The city manager said the city subsidies for the five will amount to $180,000. The total value of the five new homes when completed will be more than $1.06 million. The properties cannot be used as rentals for at least 10 years.
The subsidies are a way to encourage developers to build on in-fill lots in older neighborhoods. Contractors costs are high without the inducement of a high sales price and multiple home builds in a single area. Troy Bolander, the city's planning, development and neighborhoods director, said applications were open for any location within the city, but part of the scoring process involved awarding points based on the condition and need for a property to be removed.
Tyler Lipscomb, co-owner of 13th Street Properties, said the incentive allows his development company to build houses, particularly smaller ones, in locations where an investor would have lost money on the deal without the incentive.
"There's a benefit to the city on a large scale. The city is benefiting and residents are benefiting" from removing vacant and dilapidated properties and replacing them with new houses, Lipscomb said.
The program addresses a principal area of concern in our city. As Joplin nears its 150th year, it has large swaths of older homes, a significant portion of which become derelict each year.
It is a creative solution, and if it works our city will be closer to restoring its declining neighborhoods.
We will be watching closely.
