Fort Wayne to create housing design catalog to expedite homebuilding process | Local Government

Fort Wayne could soon form a system that would fill hundreds of vacant properties across the city and address the housing shortage.

The Fort Wayne City Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a $120,000 contract with Arkansas-based architectural firm Flintlock LAB to create a housing catalog that will provide sets of pre-approved home designs for builders to choose from. That will expedite the permitting process for builders, council documents said.

Paul Spoelhof, deputy director of planning and policy with the Department of Planning, said the goal is to build homes on vacant lots that will fit in with their surroundings.

“The market works in a lot of different ways,” he said. “We’re not trying to manage that. What we’re trying to do is provide builders and prospective homeowners with some models that work for the neighborhood, that contribute to the neighborhood’s aesthetic and don’t require much variance or special conditions.”

The catalog will start with four generic designs that once approved can be the base model for home design on vacant lots. Spoelhof said this will help Fort Wayne’s housing shortage and add revenue to the city’s budget.

“Any supply that we can add to the market is going to improve affordability broadly,” he said. “We’re talking about turning lots that are vacant and barely generating any property tax into property tax generators.”

Spoelhof said the expedited housing development could help the city beyond the properties now generating property taxes.

“If we are attracting households into these neighborhoods from outside the city or another community, likely they’re bringing a job or taking a job,” he said. “So, they’re bringing income tax. So, we’ve got two sources of revenue that are coming in.”

Council President Russ Jehl, R-2nd, said he was skeptical when Community Development first approached council with this plan.

“Philosophically, I don’t think the government should be giving away money for people to build their houses,” he said. “We’ve long since crossed that. We give state developers millions of dollars to build affluent housing and don’t even charge them taxes afterwards.”

Jehl said the city has a history of investing in housing projects that don’t see a return for 40 years.

This contract, if it results in only one house being built, would pay for itself in 30 years, he said.

Spoelhof said the goal is far more than one house.

“He’ll be happy to know that we’re hoping to have 100 of these built,” he said. “I’m not saying that will all happen in one year, but we are hopeful that we can get as many as possible toward that number built, which would dramatically reduce the payoff period for a return on investment.”

Councilman Geoff Paddock, D-5th, said his district has many empty lots that need addressed.

“I know there are many of those empty lots as we go to the center part of the city,” he said.

Councilman Marty Bender, R-at large, asked Spoelhof how much the houses might sell for.

“We’re seeing construction costs at $150,000,” Spoelhof said. “That’s before a developer fee or a profit margin for the builder.”

Council members are expected to vote on final approval at a future meeting. Preliminary votes rarely change.

Officials said putting together the design catalog and marketing will likely take until the middle of next year.