INDIANAPOLIS — Ten proposals have been selected for funding through Vacant to Vibrant, a program of the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD). In total, the City recently awarded $5.86 million across ten proposals which will support the creation of 49 homes for rental, homeownership, and lease-to-purchase opportunities.
Organizations included in the 2023 Vacant to Vibrant Program Awards were some on the east side:
• Englewood Community Development Corporation’s Temple Avenue Townhomes & Exodus Refugee Affordable Housing was awarded $1,073,227 for the creation of 10 affordable units, six of which will be modular townhome units and four will be renovated in partnership with Exodus Refugee and Volumod.
• Martindale Brightwood CDC’s Ralston Hill Phase One project received $937,113 to develop eight new construction townhomes. This project aligns with the Martindale Brightwood Education Zone (MBEZ) Housing Village blueprint, providing affordable housing options for families attending or working at local schools. Additionally, it aims to reduce vacancy within the Hillside Housing Tax Increment Financing (HOTIF) area, created in collaboration with DMD in 2021.
• Martindale Brightwood CDC in partnership with Brown Property Development partnership received $300,000 to construct two homeownership opportunities at 1967 Hovey & 1613 E. 20th Street.
• The Southeast Neighborhood Development Inc.’s submission will utilize $953,616 in ARPA funds to create six total affordable units, four rental townhome units in the Old Southside Neighborhood and two homeownership units in the Twin Aire Great Places neighborhoods, providing a mix of opportunities.
• The Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership’s Bungalow Pilot program will utilize $282,086 funds for the rehabilitation of two units of affordable homeownership for households below 80% AMI. This project will be focused on the development of bungalow homes, traditionally one story in height with a floor area under 1,000 square feet.
• INHP’s second project, Bridge to Homeownership, received $663,678 to create six units of lease-to-purchase housing across Marion County.
The Vacant to Vibrant program was launched in January 2023 as part of the administration’s affordable housing strategy. Vacant to Vibrant is supported by the pairing of under-utilized property from the City’s land bank and funding from American Rescue Plan and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
