Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on $11M development

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its newest Oxford development, “Clarence Place,” on June 9.

According to a news release, the $11 million project located off Chestnut Street will include 31 townhomes built over the course of two to three years.

Joe Hansbauer, CEO of Habitat, told the Oxford Free Press following the ceremony the project came from Habitat’s equity, Butler County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds through the City of Oxford, Welcome Home Ohio, the Ohio Department of Development and the Oxford Community Foundation.

Hansbauer said the homes will have an average price of $185,000 to $200,000, with a monthly mortgage of $800 to $1,000.

The homes will be built in partnership with Bayer Becker, New Republic Architecture and Voegele Services LLC. Each two-story home will have brick and hardy board exteriors with three to four bedrooms and an unfinished basement, totaling an average of 1,200 square feet.

Jason Chamlee, vice president of real estate development for Habitat, said the organization goes through a “homebuyer selection” process, wherein homes are not put on the market, but instead Habitat releases applications and chooses among those received. 

Chamlee said the organization looks at applicant income and demonstrated need for housing, as well as a willingness to partner by agreeing to financial literacy training, homeowner education and “sweat equity” hours on site. Traditionally, this includes volunteering on a build site, but it can also look like volunteering at a ReStore or representing Habitat at community events, or close friends and family may also gain sweat equity on a homebuyer’s behalf, according to Sarah Sheffer, a Habitat marketing and communications coordinator. 

Applications for the first 11 homes opened in May, which have since closed, and homes will be matched with the chosen applicants this fall. Chamlee said those homes will be completed sometime next spring. 

Application rounds for additional phases of the development will be held throughout the next year. Anyone interested may check habitatcincinnati.org/clarence-place on the 10th of each month for updates.

Chamlee said the first part of construction, which Habitat hopes to begin within the next couple weeks, includes stripping the soil and laying a road off Chestnut Street to lead through the homes, as well as tying the development to public infrastructure.

Chamlee said Habitat has had a presence in Oxford for roughly 30 years, beginning with the first home built in 1995 and the Reckford Woods Subdivision, wherein 20 homes were built over the course of 14 years.

Karen Byrd-Gibson was the first person in Oxford to receive a home built by Habitat more than 30 years ago and attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Clarence Place to share what Habitat has done for her, as well as a song she wrote about the organization.

Byrd-Gibson said her home was built in around two months or less because of all the people who wanted to share in the effort at the time. Since then, she’s put together photo books and information about the experience.

“I had two kids at the time, and they were just so excited,” she said.

Byrd-Gibson said, when she was first given the key to her new home and approached the entrance, she noticed a bird on the window ledge, which she thought was an interesting coincidence given her last name.

Following her experience, she worked on Habitat’s board of directors from 2014-2017 as a way to “give back” and try to get other families involved. Her song, called “Making One’s Dreams Come True,” she said “talks about how God uses ordinary people, no matter what color, no matter what race, he uses ordinary people to make our dreams a reality.”

“Habitat is about love,” Byrd-Gibson said. “I’ve been almost at every groundbreaking in the Oxford area … so I have been thrilled to be a part of this wonderful experience.”

Jessica Greene, assistant city manager, said getting to this point for the Clarence Place project has taken several years. She credited Seth Cropenbaker, economic development specialist for the City of Oxford, with finding the land for the city to purchase in 2021.

Since then, the city has needed to rezone the area to increase its housing density capacity and begin a request for proposal process for the construction, which Habitat won.

Greene said of why the development is necessary, “Housing is extremely expensive.”

“There’s a housing crisis across the entire country. Oxford is not immune to that,” she said, adding the issue is exacerbated by student rentals in which houses are priced by individual rooms, thus increasing the cost of homes around the city. 

“I’m calling this ‘workforce housing’ for people who work here to be able to live here,” she said of the new development.