Explanation
BACKGROUND:
This legislation authorizes the Director of Development to enter into contract with Guidehouse Inc., in an amount up to $569,000.00, to establish the Regional Housing Coalition and position the new regional entity for success. The contract includes establishing a work plan, stakeholder engagement, and delivering a business plan for the Coalition to then implement. Laying the groundwork for the Coalition is critical for its success in acting as a champion for housing and serving as the regional steward to create partnerships, facilitate support, and continue to convene partners to identify and implement solutions to our housing needs. Approval is also requested for reimbursement of expenses incurred prior to execution of the purchase order, starting September 1, 2024. The expenses are associated with the consultant working with City staff to prepare scheduled tasks as well as organize the workflow between themselves and the City staff to enable the work to begin as soon as possible to meet the deadline for the project.
The Central Ohio Region has enjoyed strong economic growth in the past decade with a rise in population and jobs, however our housing supply has not kept pace. Our region is experiencing housing scarcity; we do not have enough homes for the jobs that we have added to our region and this threatens our region’s affordability and economic opportunity. This scarcity is not rooted in a single cause, but is rather a systems-level failure that necessitates a systems-level response. Our region holds many outstanding experts, organizations, and jurisdictions focused on housing, but their good work is often siloed and not coordinated or supported at a regional level. Similar to how we have approached other critical infrastructure in our region, this regional problem merits a regional solution, which lies within the formation of the Regional Housing Coalition.
In late 2021 civic leadership met to set a new path for Central Ohio to ma...
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