Neighborhoods

Thursday, November 21, 2024

On November 21, 2024, the Mahoning County Land Bank, YNDC, other project partners, and supporters celebrated the groundbreaking of six new single family homes on Mineral Springs Avenue.

The six new homes will be 1,475 square feet each with three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, an open concept living, kitchen, and dining area, first floor laundry room, front porch, and two-car detached garage. The homes will be listed for sale for no more than $180,000 and will include a 100 percent, fifteen year property tax abatement on the new construction. Down payment assistance will also be available for eligible homebuyers through the City of Youngstown’s At Home in Youngstown down payment assistance program.

The project is made possible by a grant award to the Mahoning County Land Bank from the Ohio Department of Development’s Welcome Home Ohio grant program. Farmers National Bank is providing construction financing for the project. The vacant lots were assembled by the Mahoning County Land Bank and YNDC over the past ten years. The builder for the project is Joe Koch Construction. The project also has support from the City of Youngstown, The Raymond John Wean Foundation, and the Glenwood Neighbors Business Association.

This project is the culmination of years of hard work on Mineral Springs Avenue beginning with neighbors organizing to eliminate blight on the street in 2008; the assembly of the abandoned vacant lots by the Mahoning County Land Bank, and City of Youngstown; the demolition of Gina's corner store by the City of Youngstown; the greening and tree planting along vacant lots; the acquisition and renovation of 1945 Glenwood Avenue by YNDC; and the construction of two new homes on Mineral Springs Avenue in 2021.

Thursday, November 21, 2024

On November 21, 2024, YNDC was awarded 3 grants totaling $2,541,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati's Affordable Housing Program.

YNDC partnered with Premier Bank on two of the applications. One application was awarded $1,500,000 and will support home repair to 150 units of housing. Our second application submitted through Premier Bank was awarded $336,000 and will support the construction of six new rental units.

YNDC also partnered with Huntington Bank on one application that was awarded $705,000 and will support down payment assistance of up to $18,000 per unit to 30 homeowners in the Mahoning Valley.

More details will be provided on all projects in the months to come. Many thanks to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Premier Bank and Huntington National Bank!

New homes are tough to come by in Youngstown. In fact, outside of the main center downtown, there have been only 20 units built in the last 15 years. That is changing, however, with a new project to bring homes to the city.  Thursday, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for six new homes being built on Mineral Springs Avenue.  “The more we build, the more community we build, and the quicker we can realize Youngstown coming back as a community that cares about each other,” said Councilman Julius Oliver.  Construction has already started on the homes. They will be three bedrooms with two and a half baths, plus a two-car garage.  “When you buy a home here, you’re not just buying a house, you’re also buying into what’s happening in this neighborhood,” said YNDC Executive Director Ian Beniston.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

Six new homes will line Mineral Springs Avenue, a one-block street that runs east to west and perpendicular to Glenwood Avenue and Volney Road near Mill Creek Park.  Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. constructed two new houses along the street several years ago, and Ian Beniston, executive director, says the effort is a continuation of that program. “These six homes will be sold to homeowners,” he said, not to those seeking rentals.

To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here.

In a matter of months, several new homes will fill a small street on the South Side. The move promises to also build greater community cohesion, collaboration and connectivity, a city official says.  “We’re able to rebuild, to bring community back to the city,” Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, said. “It’s a great day.”

He was referring to six new single-family dwellings that are being constructed on Mineral Springs Avenue, once the site of blight and vacant structures — and symbolic of the city’s decline.  Oliver also was among those who spoke during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning to celebrate the project, which is a collaborative effort between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Mahoning County Land Bank and other partners. The work was made possible via a grant from the Ohio Department of Development’s Welcome Home Ohio program.

To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation on Monday announced that it was awarded $2.5 million in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Program for home repair, new construction and down payment assistance.

To Read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

A portion of a $2.54 million grant to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) will go toward building six new rental units in the Mahoning Valley.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

YNDC was awarded $2.54 million dollars from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati's Affordable Housing Program for home repairs, new builds and down payment assistance.

To read the full story from WFMJ, click here.

The Mahoning County Land Bank received a $5 million state grant that will go toward the construction of 19 new affordable houses: 16 in Youngstown and one each in Struthers, Campbell and Sebring. This is the second grant the land bank received this year from the Ohio Department of Development’s Welcome Home Ohio program.  It received a $2.4 million grant earlier this year for six new homes to be built on Mineral Springs Avenue on Youngstown’s South Side and for the renovation of six existing homes.

“We’ll have 31 affordable housing opportunities coming from the funding,” said Debora Flora, the land bank’s executive director.  The land bank’s board of directors met Tuesday to sign the grant agreement with the state and for a contract with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to be the project’s general contractor.

To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Kenneth Bonifas is the Property Maintenance Manager for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Kenneth is responsible for maintenance of YNDC's rental properties and facilities and works on the construction team to complete housing rehabilitation projects to improve the quality of life in strategic Youngstown neighborhoods.