STRUTHERS, Ohio – The city doesn’t have much available land, so it’s working with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to “spot build” houses to meet the need for affordable homes.
“This project has been ongoing for a few years now,” Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller said Tuesday morning at a ceremonial groundbreaking at 363 Sexton St. “I know there’s a lot of different housing issues throughout the community, and Struthers is different than everywhere else. We don’t have a lot of land to build on, so our fix to it was spot building.”
The city used land in its land bank and worked with the Mahoning County Land Bank to spot build.
Miller; Ian Beniston, YNDC executive director; Mahoning County commissioners; Joe Koch Jr. of Joe Koch Construction; neighborhood residents; members of the city administration and others gathered for the groundbreaking. The house, as well as another on the same street, already are under construction by Koch Construction.
They are among eight homes being built for the project. Each will include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and dining area, a first floor laundry room, a front porch and a two-car detached garage. When finished, the homes will be listed for sale, and down payment assistance will be available for those eligible through a partnership with Huntington Bank.
The city received a grant through the Ohio Department of Development’s Welcome Home Ohio program.
Miller said she called YNDC for help with the project.
Beniston said three houses are being built on Sexton and one each on Narcissa, Center, Prospect, Eighth streets and Haywood Avenue.
“Most of them are already rolling,” he said. “You can see we have the block here. The two on Narcissa and Prospect are already framed. They have the roof up. So we’re making good progress.”
Eden Haven Housing Development Group also worked on the project.
“It’s definitely a team effort,” Beniston said.
Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti said the house construction revitalizes small neighborhoods. She pointed to what’s underway in Struthers and what’s been completed in Youngstown.
Commissioners Anthony Traficanti and Geno DeFabio also lauded the project, the quality construction and how it’s addressing the need for affordable housing.
Miller is gratified to see projects that have been discussed for years come to fruition.
“This is a very exciting time for the city of Struthers,” she said.
Pictured at top: Ian Beniston, executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., and Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller.