Middle housing refers to housing that lies somewhere between single-family homes with big lots and large apartment complexes. It can include things like cottage courts or cluster homes and multi-unit structures like townhomes.
A new housing development getting underway soon in north Springfield is expected to help meet the need for more middle housing in the city.
The Drew Lewis Foundation broke ground Wednesday on the Broadway Cottage Courtyard in the 700 block of N. Broadway. The pocket neighborhood development will consist of 15 3-bedroom, 2-bath traditional craftsman style homes with large front porches connected by a community sidewalk running through the middle. Some will be priced under $150,000, and they’ll be available for purchase by those who meet 200% of the federal poverty guideline. Broadway Cottage Courtyard is a Blue House Project community.
The Drew Lewis Foundation's Blue House Project, which seeks to increase home ownership in Springfield.
Drew Lewis Foundation founder and CEO Amy Blansit said, in exchange for being able to buy a home, residents are asked to stay for at least five to seven years.
“We’re asking individuals, in exchange for that asset, for them to stay and be a neighbor with us, to help create community, to be a part of Grant Beach," she said, "to join the neighborhood association, to go to Pappy's to visit, you know, the businesses on Commercial Street and really create, you know, a walkable, safe community.”
Blansit pointed out that more than half of the city’s residents live in rental property. According to a recent housing study commissioned by the City of Springfield, homeownership declined by 17% from 2010 to 2020. The home ownership rate is currently 42%, according to the study. The U.S. Census Bureau lists the 2018-2022 owner-occupied home ownership rate at 42.3%.
She said that has repercussions across the community.
"When we start getting below 50%, we begin to see increased crime," she said, "we begin to see the increased mobility of children moving from school to school, and that stability really begins to decline.”
The land that the houses will be built on hasn’t been developed, so utilities will have to be installed. But Blansit expects work to continue through the winter and for all of the houses to be completed by the end of next year.
