Mixed income housing quickly coming to South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Nearly 100 housing units are on the fast-track to bringing the Lincoln Park Neighborhood new mixed income homeownership opportunities.

A Friday afternoon groundbreaking by the city of South Bend and Affordable HomeMATTERS Indiana, an Intend Indiana initiative, kicked off the first steps of the 5-year project.

The CEO for Intend Indiana, Steven Meyer, explained the project is aimed at bringing those homeownership opportunities to underserved areas of South Bend, ultimately deciding to put the 92 houses in multiple areas of districts one and two.

"So we started working with the City of South Bend about six months ago and identified some areas where we wanted to promote home ownership, and this was a high priority area for the city, and an area where we felt like it was providing good opportunities for new homeowners, and so we were excited with both the area and the partners that were working in the area,” said Meyer.

He also explained the project will take 5 years, the first houses starting construction in the beginning of 2025 and completely wrapping up by 2029. It will also work in combination with local contractors and small businesses, bringing South Bend new opportunities in more ways than one.

"So, we're bringing all of the resources that we have under our umbrella to support every aspect of this project, from taking care of acquiring the properties to building the houses, to supporting the small businesses that will be building them and the homeowners that will end up owning them,” said Meyer.

About half of the homes will be sold to those making under 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), around 20% will be sold to individuals or families earning between 81-120% AMI, and the rest will be sold at market value.

The mayor of South Bend, James Mueller, explained he views South Bend as a promising growing market.

“For a long time, Indianapolis was one of the only growing places in the state of Indiana. Now, South Bend is one another growing market in the state of Indiana, and so it really just represents where we are as a city and the potential we have going forward,” said Mueller.

Mueller went on to say this isn’t the only ongoing housing project in South Bend, describing the inclusive and diverse opportunities mixed income homes bring.

“Our goal is to have mixed income housing across the entire city. It's that's the best way to have neighborhoods, to have cohesive neighborhoods, and to have a cohesive city where we're all together and we're all moving forward together. And so that's been an important goal of ours, and we're doing that not just here in this neighborhood, but in other housing efforts across the city,” said Mueller.