INDIANAPOLIS — Recently, Mayor Joe Hogsett joined the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) to report preliminary neighborhood investments totaling $66 million in 2017. Leveraging local, state, and federal resources, these investments resulted in over 300 new housing units, 70 home repairs, 2,000 new job commitments, 1,400 retained jobs, and 690 job placement and training opportunities for low- to moderate-income residents.
DMD leverages funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, and Tax Increment Financing for community and neighborhood-based development projects, as well as strategic investments in Indianapolis’ workforce.
DMD’s housing investments in 2017 sought to uplift neglected areas of the city and improve affordable housing options in neighborhoods across Indianapolis:
• Nearly $2 million was invested in the rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned houses and construction of new houses on vacant lots.
• $1.4 million assisted 70 low-income homeowners with necessary home repairs through the Owner-Occupied Repair Program.
• City investments totaling nearly $1.9 million supported the completion of the Illinois Street Senior Apartments and the Glenmoor Apartments, two affordable rental housing projects that included the rehabilitation of long-neglected buildings on the Near Northside.
• $4.65 million of Section 108 loan funds were invested in the rehabilitation of the former Ford Assembly Building on East Washington. This project will bring life back to the East Washington Street corridor, utilizing mixed-use residential and commercial space with 51 percent of the 132 residential units reserved for income-qualified renters.
In 2017, DMD supported efforts to connect underserved populations in Indianapolis with the tools they need to find employment, and dedicated funding to economic development projects that redeveloped properties and created and retained jobs in the community. This included:
• $1.46 million invested in the Build Fund, a revolving loan fund program dedicated to helping new or expanding small businesses struggling to gain traditional financing.
• $400,000 provided to EmployIndy for job training and placement services for 690 underserved residents.
• The facilitation of a $51.63 million investment of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) into 20 economic development projects.
Remediating and redeveloping Indianapolis’ vacant and abandoned industrial sites remained a priority throughout 2017:
• $500,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants was devoted to assessment work in the Indy East Promise Zone and area-wide planning on the RCA/Sherman Park site.
• $1.03 million facilitated demolition and remediation activities on the once-vacant and abandoned RCA/Sherman Park and Naples Bulk Oil Storage industrial sites.
Working together to stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods, DMD and Renew Indianapolis help responsible buyers secure vacant and abandoned properties. In 2017:
• Nearly $3 million was invested in demolishing blight in Indianapolis neighborhoods, a new record.
• DMD expects to complete 135 property sales and 155 demolitions of blighted houses in the City’s Land Bank.
DMD led the development of a Neighborhood Investment Strategy in 2017.