In September, AHT celebrated its anniversary. You may not know it, but 23 years ago AHT was established at the recommendation of the Columbus Housing Task Force, convened in 2000 by then Mayor Michael B. Coleman and chaired by James Bowman and Warren Tyler. At that time Columbus and Franklin County were faced with many housing issues. 

The Task Force found that Columbus didn’t have deep poverty problems or huge slums, but a sizable amount of local housing had deteriorated. This resulted in low-income families paying high rents for substandard housing, a lack of supportive housing for special needs populations, and enduring shortfall in housing for the workforce population. Simply put, Columbus was growing and there was not enough decent affordable housing to accommodate low to moderate income residents. 

The Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County (AHT) was born out of a direct recommendation of that 2000 Task Force.  AHT worked on the supply side of the housing solution, as an investor, lender and facilitator for the production of affordable new homes and apartments, and for the rehabilitation of existing residential buildings.

Over the years AHT has worked to adapt to ever-changing housing needs in Columbus and Franklin County. In February 2016, AHT became a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). This designation allows us to leverage awarded dollars to fund housing for our most vulnerable populations. Our most recent CDFI award will also allow us to expand our mission beyond Columbus and Franklin County.  While we know there is still work to be done in Franklin County, we also know that housing is a regional issue.

In 2019 AHT worked with 14 business and non-profit investors to create the Housing Action Fund (HAF), a $100 million fund to be used as a financial tool to fill the affordable housing gap in Columbus and Franklin County. By providing below-market loans to developers who commit to the Fund’s affordability criteria, the HAF will increase and preserve the number of affordable rental homes in Franklin County. 

AHT recognizes that the production of affordable housing units is only one part of the solution in transforming underserved communities. For affordable housing initiatives to be successful, these efforts must be accompanied by other sustainability and community focused programs. To that end AHT created the Emerging Developers Accelerator Program (EDAP) and AHT’s Grant Program for Housing Innovation. The EDAP is AHT’s 6-month training program that supports developers who are women and people of color with comprehensive technical assistance, education, and access to capital to help build and preserve affordable housing. In addition to providing participants with the opportunity to accelerate their businesses and close the racial wealth gap, the program helps increase the supply of affordable housing units throughout the Central Ohio community.

AHT’s Grant Program for Housing Innovation funds home repairs and subsidizes housing-related initiatives for eligible nonprofits. Home repair grants specifically address exterior or interior home repairs to improve health and safety, accessibility, and code violation concerns, while non-production grants help support initiatives for already existing housing.  We recognize that we must preserve what currently exists.

Yes, we have undertaken a developers training program and a grant program, yet lending remains our key focus. Since our founding AHT has closed loans totaling over $300 million which has funded the creation or preservation of over 14,200 units of affordable housing. The larger impact of these investments reaches far behind loan dollars and units of housing. 

Ok, Lark, AHT has done good work at AHT, but why the history lesson?? Because the work is not done. Our regional housing needs continue to grow. Columbus is experiencing record population growth. We are the fastest growing region in the Midwest. This increasing demand results in both rising rents and increasing property values and property taxes.

According to the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, Central Ohio must build nearly 19,000 housing units per year to accommodate the projected population growth.  In 2022, with an estimated 12,000 housing permits issued, we exceeded expectations but still missed the goal. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) reported in 2019 that roughly half of all Ohioans were housing cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing), and the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio found in 2017 that there was only one affordable rental unit for every three renters in poverty in Franklin County. The work of AHT is as pressing today as it was 23 years ago, if not more so!

It is imperative that we engage housing solutions with a comprehensive and holistic approach. The ultimate objective is to further the successes of affordable housing initiatives in Columbus and Franklin County and beyond. The affordable housing ecosystem is constantly evolving, and organizations must adapt and think more broadly as the community strives to find solutions for the housing challenges we face.  AHT is committed to our mission and will continue to seek out new innovative strategies to meet the needs of our central Ohio neighbors. Let’s GO!!