- The City of Jackson announced the launch of the 100 Homes Project in October.
- To help absolve the housing crisis, they are aiming to build 100 homes on city-owned vacant lots through 2026.
- Cory Mays, City of Jackson's Grant Coordinator, shows what the designs of each home will look like.
Soon, 100 affordable single-family homes will provide affordable housing and rebuild Jackson's neighborhoods. Cory Mays, Grant Coordinator of the City of Jackson, shares how the city has made this program possible. The City launched its 100 Homes Program in October, with a plan to occupy the 600+ vacant lots already owned by the city.
"The average age of a home is 41 years. In Jackson, the average age of a home is 81 years. That's not a great statistic for us. That means our housing stock is old, and only getting older, and needs that assistance," says Mays.
The Affordable Housing Development Board Conducted a study and found 1,500 new units need to be built, and 3,000 units must be rehabilitated. Rachael Wingle, local realtor and member of the board, shares what the housing crisis looks like in Jackson. "Waitlists for rentals is months, and sometimes even years out, so that's a crisis. That's huge, just shows you the demand for housing here. The people that work here work hard and they should be able to afford to live in the area they work."
According to the Community Action Agency's 2020 report, the lower the vacancy rate, the less housing that is available to rent or buy. Jackson's vacancy rate was 6.5% in 2020. In 2020, Jackson's vacancy rate was 9.8% They also found that 3,490 of Jackson homeowners, making an income less than $20,000, are paying 30% or more of their income on housing.
Mays explains, "We know we've got land, and we know we've got funding, so we're going to put some of that land together in down payment assistance and construct 100 new units in three years time, so that's going to start attacking that construction of 1,500 units."
The City's goal is to have each home certificate of occupancy issued, inspected, occupied, and closed by December 31, 2026.
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