Affordable housing approved for Delaware engineering office site
DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A proposal is moving forward to bulldoze a Delaware building that previously housed the county's engineering office to make way for an affordable housing complex.
The Delaware Planning Commission recommended approval on Sept. 4 of Columbus-based developer Homeport's plan to transform the site at 50 Channing St. into a residential complex with 44 rental properties and eight single-family homes without income restrictions. The 5.3-acre parcel has been sitting vacant since the Delaware engineering office moved in 2023 to the county's new Byxbe Campus, also home to the area's planning and development departments.
Homeport's proposal calls for the empty engineering building to be bulldozed, rather than repurpose the structure as was planned in the developer's original proposal submitted in 2020. The developer noted it is now opting for new construction after determining it's not practical to redevelop the existing building.
"Staff is extremely supportive of this plan, as we were in 2020," said Anna Kelsey, the city's planning and zoning administrator, during a commission meeting earlier this summer. "It provides much-needed housing for the city of Delaware for folks of mixed incomes. A mixed-residential development which has a variety of housing types is an extremely sustainable form of development."
Twenty-four apartments will be built in one, three-story building, while 20 two-story townhomes will be constructed across three buildings. The proposal also outlines that each of the right single-family homes will have their own driveway and yard, and there will be 88 parking spaces for rental tenants. A 20-foot green space will be maintained on the southeast corner of the site to serve as a buffer to the existing neighborhood to the east.
Kelsey Fox, the director of housing and community solutions for United Way of Delaware County, spoke in support of Homeport's proposal during a June meeting and said the city is in need of additional affordable housing.
"We know that we have over 14,500 households in Delaware that are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on their housing needs," Fox said. "Having additional options and resources is critical to the ability for workers and families that are already here in the community to be able to stay."
Homeport will need final approval from city council before construction can begin.