Study looks at balancing local housing market

There's a new tool that should help city leaders hammer out a solution to make housing in Findlay and Hancock County more accessible for everyone. This week, a summary of a $35,000 housing study — commissioned in 2019 by a group of community partners — was released by Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn's office. The City of Findlay, the Hancock County Regional Planning Commission, the University of Findlay Center for Civic Engagement Housing Coalition and The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation spearheaded the effort, with the foundation paying the fee. DiSalvo Development Advisors, LLC, of Dublin, was hired to conduct the study. DiSalvo was asked to analyze housing gaps and development opportunities in Hancock County. Matt Cordonnier, director of the Regional Planning Commission, underscored that the study wasn't meant to analyze needs only, but to gauge needs within the context of what's feasible for contractors who may be interested in investing in Findlay/Hancock County's housing market. The study concluded that the Findlay/Hancock County housing market is capable of supporting an additional 1,000 for-sale and 500 rental units over the next five years, which would include a variety of housing types and price points. "Over the past few years, many stakeholders have been working to address housing needs in our community. To best address a problem, you first have to understand it. This report is the next step in quantifying our community's need. With the study complete, we can take additional steps to magnify our efforts. Having additional and diverse housing options will only benefit the community and residents as a whole," said Cordonnier. "We are fortunate that the Findlay-Hancock County region is thriving, but it can also present its own challenges. The goal of the housing study is to help focus our efforts to best address our housing needs in an efficient and effective manner," said Muryn. "Having a strong housing market serves as a strong foundation to support employee retention, revitalize neighborhoods, attract employers, increase consumer spending and improve health outcomes. I look forward to seeing significant progress over the coming months and years to ensure our community continues to be a top location for everyone to live, learn, work, play and pray." The full report is expected to be released to The Courier once the final draft is approved by the sponsors. The summary is available for public viewing at www.hancockrpc.org. Pete DiSalvo, president of the development advisors group, said balancing Findlay's housing market isn't as straight forward as just building more houses, but he believes it is the last component that "will pull together" the success of Findlay and Hancock County — and add some depth to the area's shallow worker pool. He said workforce numbers in Hancock County factor heavily into efforts to attract business and industry. According to the summary, about 22,000 individuals who work in Hancock County commute from outside of the county. He said convincing workers to move into the county has as much to do with lifestyle as it does with availability and price. For example, a study survey found that housing within walking distance of a park is highly desirable. Multi-use areas that combine retail and residential are also popular, he said. The report also gives recommendations for making housing and homeownership more accessible to low-income families, including the establishment of programs like a "revolving rent deposit assistance" program, or a community development organization that puts together financing for housing. The report summary listed several statistics about the Findlay/Hancock County housing market, including: • The multifamily apartment occupancy rate is 97 percent. • A total of 9,509 households in Hancock County are renters, and 4,111 of those households are "cost-burdened," meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Among the rental housing stock is 6,900 single-family homes. • A total of 42 percent of renters are single-person households. • Median household income is expected to rise in Hancock County from $53,567 to $59,620 by 2024.