Housing addressed during local radio station program

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Local housing needs – both short and long-term – and the downtown Van Wert area were topics of discussion during a weekend radio program that aired on local radio stations 99.7FM WKSD and WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.

The discussion took place during this past Sunday’s edition of the Commisioners Corner and the Mayor’s Conference, which airs at 8:25 a.m. each Sunday. Typically, at least one or two Van Wert County Commissioners appear on the program, along with Van Wert Mayor Ken Markward and a special guest.

This week’s special guest, Van Wert County Foundation CEO Seth Baker, said he recently took part in a housing symposium in Sandusky that was attended by approximately 170 people. According to Baker, the goal of the gathering was talk discuss a housing shortage in that multi-county area. In that particular area of north central Ohio, there’s a need for 10,000 new housing units over the next several years.

“It’s not just Van Wert County that’s facing a housing shortages, it’s all over,” he explained. “I thought it might be important to talk about what we’re doing to solve some of our housing shortages.”

During the interview, show host Chris Roberts asked where 1,000 workers who will build the data center in Van Wert will be housed. Construction of the facility is expected to began at some point later this year.

“Those would be short term,” Baker responded. “Just hearing some of the other ideas that are going on around the state, you’ve got some communities that are thinking about building almost hotel-style dormitories – kind of like transient housing where you can have a room that has a kitchenette and larger bathroom facilities.”

When construction begins, local hotel and motel rooms and even campground spots are expected to become scarce.

On the topic of more long term housing, Baker said 52 downtown apartments were designed as part of Phase I and II of the ongoing Van Wert Forward project and Baker said 23 of those spaces have been leased by full-time people living in them, while Central Insurance leased another 15 units for their use. He indicated the remaining units will soon be available.

Administrative Assistant Meagan Grubach, who also appeared on Sunday’s program, said the Union Block — the purple building at the corner of Main St. and Washington St. — will be ready within the next two months. She said it has 11 units ranging from studio to luxury lofts.

“There are two luxury lofts and they’re both two bedroom but the square footage is much larger (than a studio apartment) and they have bigger appliances and kitchens and things like that,” she said.

Baker said Phase I and II of the downtown project is expected to wrap up sometime in March and he noted the apartments are actually move in ready, but final approval is needed at the state level. As far as the commercial side, he noted Phase I work produced turn-key units.

“Everything was in for a business to be able to function, you could rent the place, flip the lights on and if you needed some custom build-out we could,” he stated. “What we discovered as we put in HVAC systems or lighting, plumbing, is that businesses have different needs, so you might have someone that needs a kitchen and that demands a different air flow system, so we found ourselves going in and ripping out new systems to rebuild them customized for that tenant. For Phase I, we said ‘we’re going to get these spaces to cold, dark shells so they’re ready to build out for a tenant – there’s a pool of cash that’s set aside that when a tenant is identified we can plug in, we can put the right flooring in, right lighting, right HVAC systems and go to town.”

Baker also addressed rumors that crop up on local social media sites, including ones that claim the massive project is out of money.

“We’re not out of money,” Baker said. “We’re really paying attention to how we’re investing and how we’re spending those dollars and so (we’re) just being very prudent with those dollars. The (Van Wert County) Foundation is not out of money.”

Questions have been raised about parking issues in the downtown area, especially with tenants living in residental apartments and the prospect of more businesses locating along Main St. and the surrounding area, prompting Baker to say parking studies done at the beginning of the project, and he added the Foundation paid to have Jefferson St. changed to angle parking to accommodate more parking in that block.

“Certainly there will be other solutions that will occur but it’s not just a Van Wert Forward or Foundation problem,” he said. “I looked back in the minute books of the Foundation from the 1950s and as a community we were wrestling parking issues back then. As communities grow and needs shift, these problems ebb and flow.”

While some have suggested a parking garage, perhaps at the site of the former Home Guard building, Baker questioned how many people would actually pay to park in such a structure when free parking may be available a block away. He also noted that when the idea was considered 2-3 years ago, the cost to construct one was approximately $5 million.

“It’s not necessarily out of the question,” he said. “At some point there’s an equalibrium, because you want people to come downtown. You might have to drive around the block once every couple of weeks to get your coffee but otherwise you can usually park within eyesight of where you’re going.”

The full interview can be found here: