How to Include Housing in Revitalization Efforts: Columbia Case Study

Quality Growth Case Study

Written by Kasey Talbott and Dustin Shane, 2011

Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation (CHRC) works with the city’s current planning process to implement reinvestment and development in historic neighborhoods. These collaborative efforts have allowed the city to garner federal funding to revitalize blighted communities.

View the How to Include Housing in Revitalization Efforts: Columbia Case Study, PDF

Using Housing Choice to Revitalize a Community

Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Corporation (CHRC) is more than just another housing authority. This relatively small agency has won regional and national awards and has even been visited by the assistant secretary of HUD. One of the main reasons for CHRC’s recognition is that it is the only comparably-sized housing agency in Middle Tennessee that also serves as a redevelopment agency, which means CHRC has been invested with the power to actively pursue revitalization across the city. This, along with great leadership and vision, has made CHRC and the City of Columbia a model for incorporating housing with revitalization efforts.

Over the past few years CHRC has worked with the City of Columbia to accomplish the following:

• Identified the Housing Needs of the Community. In 2008, Columbia received a $519,000 grant from HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to replace blighted homes in East Columbia with modular housing. Columbia received this money because they first were aware of how abnormally high home foreclosures were in the community and then made sure to demonstrate this in their application. More recently Columbia was one of only two applicants in the state to be awarded a HUD Community Challenge grant worth $250,000 for the James Campbell corridor redesign. This award was preceded by considerable research and assessment of the community’s needs by CHRC and Columbia Grants and Planning.
• Expanded the Comprehensive Plan to Allow More Housing Options. The redevelopment process in East Columbia started during the public hearings about the county-wide comprehensive plan in 2008-9. The consulting firm hired to create the plan, already had the maps, the statistics, and the data for that area of Columbia on hand from the comprehensive planning process. A $10,000 additional investment by the city resulted in the East Columbia Redevelopment and Urban Renewal Plan.
• Designed to Create Attractive Communities and Housing. Good design is critical to the development of attractive communities, particularly when providing a variety of housing types. Additions of a broader range of housing types in keeping with current architectural styles that complement existing neighborhood can enhance property values. Modular houses featuring a cottage-style design built in nearby Pulaski will replace several dilapidated structures under the NSP implementation. The homes are cost-effective and blend well with the existing housing stock.
• Used Incentives to Promote Housing Choice. Incentives can be used to encourage the creation of a range of housing with the right design in the desired locations that matches those needs. Incentives may include increased density levels, tax benefits, infrastructure improvements, and quick approval for developments that meet specified guidelines. As a redevelopment agency, CHRC can use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to encourage development in certain areas. TIF districts use property or sales tax revenues in a defined area to enable private development to occur. The total tax revenue “base” attributable is established when a TIF district is formed. As redevelopment occurs, the added tax value, or tax increment, is placed in a special fund used to pay redevelopment costs, such as infrastructure improvements within the TIF district.

Under CHRC’s plan, lower-income single-family homes will replace blighted structures and act as catalysts for neighborhood cleanup and reinvestment. CHRC’s partnership with GAP Community Development Resources of Franklin helps to provide a homebuyer assistance education program for new homeowners.

“We’ve shown how redevelopment can be inclusive of the residents and representative of their wishes. We’ve generated excitement and optimism within this community again.”- Trent Ogilvie

Executive Director of CHRC, Trent Ogilvie admits that more work remains, but is confident that CHRC’s unique approach will continue to carry the city forward.

Written by: Dustin Shane and Kasey Talbott, 2011