The city will invest $4.5 million for a new affordable housing initiative to redevelop city-owned properties in the near northwest side, Martindale-Brightwood and near east side neighborhoods.
The funding comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
City officials and community members gathered outside of a vacant house on the near northwest side to announce the affordable housing effort, called Vacant to Vibrant.
Once the properties are ready for sale, the homes will be for households earning less than 80% of the area median income, which translates to $73,050 annually for a family of four.
“We can’t talk about vacant property or neighborhood stabilization without talking about Black and brown neighborhoods and the intertwined relationship of race and re-segregation in our city and across our country,” said Vop Osili, president of Indianapolis City-County Council. “Health division, disinvestment, decay and gentrification have been the death of countless Black and brown neighborhoods across our country.”
The city created the program based on its property inventory, local housing data and policy recommendations from the Anti-Displacement Agenda, which the Department of Metropolitan Development released in 2021 and details the state of housing in Indianapolis.
“The Vacant to Vibrant program the mayor just announced won’t solve all the challenges I mentioned, but it represents a significant step forward,” Osili said.
The city will take development proposals from nonprofits, community development corporations and real estate developers for 100 available properties. The deadline to submit proposals is March 31. Learn more here.
Contact staff writer Timoria Cunningham at 317-762-7854 or timoriac@indyrecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @_timoriac.
