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Restore SGF seeks to lift housing stock

City program initially targets north-side neighborhoods

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Promoting homeownership and renovating residential properties are key drivers behind a city initiative introduced last year.

Restore SGF officially kicked off in November, but Richard Ollis, owner of Ollis/Akers/Arney insurance agency and a Springfield councilperson, said the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the formation of the effort. Still, he said the need to bolster the city’s housing stock in the city – particularly in its historic north-side neighborhoods – is important, no matter when it’s tackled.

Boosting the homeownership rate in Springfield is one of the program goals, Ollis said, citing a November 2020 analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by internet listing service RentCafe. In it, Springfield’s renter rate was 59% in 2019, an increase of nearly 11% from 2010-19. By comparison, Missouri has a home ownership rate of 71%, according to 2020 census data.

“Regardless of the factors here now, we’re approaching 60% rentals in the city of Springfield,” he said. “We’d like to stem that tide. We believe homeowners typically are better neighborhood advocates and property maintainers, although that’s not true across the board.”

Ollis, Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. President Brian Fogle and state Rep. Bill Owen, R-Springfield, are founding organizers of Restore SGF, along with Neighborhood Advisory Council Chairperson Rusty Worley and city Planning and Development Assistant Director Brendan Griesemer. The initiative is a collaborative effort to enhance, restore and rehabilitate homes and provide a central resource for all residential incentive and loan programs.

Restore SGF’s pilot neighborhoods are Grant Beach, Midtown, West Central and Woodland Heights, Ollis said.

“The predominance of homes that we’re focused on are north of Chestnut Expressway,” he said. “We want to rehabilitate homes in our historic neighborhoods. It doesn’t take but a drive around town for you to see that many of our housing conditions have deteriorated. We want to provide resources and knowledge, kind of a central clearinghouse for people to do these things.”

Ollis said the program website, RestoreSGF.com, contains financing options through local institutions including BancorpSouth Bank and Commerce Bank, as well as nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity of Springfield, Missouri Inc. A collection of incentive and assistance programs for homeowners also is provided.

Jeff Kester, CEO of Greater Springfield Board of Realtors, said there’s a substantial need for any program that seeks to improve the city’s housing stock.

“There’s so much unlocked potential in so many of the heritage neighborhoods in Springfield,” he said.

Expanding fair housing opportunities also are a benefit of the program, Kester said.

“You want to expand those opportunities to underserved or historically disadvantaged folks,” he said.

Inventory challenge
Kester said Realtors are challenged by the lack of homes for sale in the Springfield market. There’s currently less than a month of inventory.

“If no new houses come on the market, it would take under a month to sell everything,” he said, noting six months of inventory is what’s considered a balanced market.

First-time homebuyers are probably the most frustrated in the current market, Kester said, adding affordability is an ongoing issue in the housing industry. According to March 2021 data from Missouri Realtors, the residential average sale price in the state was $244,940, up 19.5% from a year prior.

While not affiliated with Restore SGF, Clay Trautman, president and CEO of The Cast Group, has renovated dozens of homes in Springfield over the past five years. Around 45 of them have been in the Grant Beach, Midtown, West Central and Woodland Heights neighborhoods, he said.

While four more in those areas remain under renovation, he said the company looks to purchase homes between $30,000 and $80,000 and sell for $70,000-$160,000.

Trautman said there’s a substantial need for homeownership in historic neighborhoods.

“We’ve noticed that properties who have temporary tenants deteriorate much more quickly due to their lack of emotional investment in the property, as well as no incentive for the landlord to maintain the property,” he said via email.

Up ahead
One of Restore SGF’s founders is trying to establish a land bank in Springfield through legislation that was passed April 8 in the Missouri House of Representatives.

House Bill 563, sponsored by Owen, is in the Senate, where it remains in committee as of press time, according to the House website.

The bill would establish a land bank agency through which officials in Springfield would assemble, manage and dispose of vacant land for neighborhood stabilization or redevelopment purposes. Blue Springs, Kansas City, St. Joseph and St. Louis all have land banks, according to Restore SGF officials.

Rep. Betsy Fogle, D-Springfield, spoke in favor of Owen’s legislation during an April 20 interview for SBJ’s 12 People You Need to Know series.

“This allows land bank agencies a direct say in who these dilapidated properties are being sold to,” she said. “What happens right now oftentimes is these houses that are dilapidated get sold to people who don’t have the capital to be able to improve them. So, these houses sit in a state of disarray for years on end from seller to seller.”

Fogle said the land bank would give an opportunity for more intentional guidance and investment in some of the historic parts of the community she and Owen represent.

Beyond the land bank, Restore SGF officials want to form a community development corporation, Ollis said.

“This is essentially where all the programming will be housed in the future,” he said. “We’ll be able to accept grants, capital, philanthropy and lots of other resources through this.”

Community development corporations are 501(c)(3) nonprofits focused on revitalizing areas in which they are located – often dealing with the development of affordable housing, according to the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations.

They are set up and run by community members or local groups, such as civic organizations or churches. At least one-third of the board would comprise local residents.

Ollis said Restore SGF organizers hope to establish the nonprofit by the start of next year.

“We’ve got eight months to get this done, which is a push, candidly, but that’s our goal,” he said.

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