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Analysis: Logansport housing market needs up to 400 units

Last Updated on March 12, 2019 by cassnetwork

Mayor Dave Kitchell today announced the completion of a Housing Market Potential analysis that confirms robust demand for market-rate housing in Logansport.

According to the analysis of Logansport’s housing market potential, the city could support between 280 to 400 new housing units over the next five years.  Approximately 725 households with incomes over $40,000 per year have the potential to move within/to the City of Logansport each year. 

·             46 percent are traditional and non-traditional families

·             36 percent are young singles and couples

·             18 percent are “empty nesters” or retirees

More than half of Logansport’s potential market already lives in Logansport and is seeking a different location and/or type of housing.

“Given the limited number of for sale signs in the city, it’s evident there is a need for more housing and this analysis confirms it,” Kitchell said.  “It quantifies just how many people want to live in Logansport.  What’s most encouraging is that we now are armed with the information we need to take action and engage the potential players in the community, investors and developers who can produce new housing opportunities.”

The housing market potential analysis was completed by Zimmerman Volk Associates, a New Jersey-based firm well-known for its specific type of market analysis, which focuses on a community’s potential to attract and/or retain market rate buyers and renters, as well as their preferences.

Community leaders in Logansport have been working together to understand local housing needs over the past year.  Local employers have expressed the need for specific types of housing that are needed in order to attract and retain talent.  To address this challenge, the City of Logansport retained the High Performance Government Network (“HPG Network”), which works with Indiana communities to bridge the gap between housing needs and the opportunities that existing to address them. Together, HPG Network and community leaders set out to quantify and look for ways to bring needed high-quality housing units to the city. HPG Network had previously worked with the Logansport-based Area Five Council on Aging and Community Services.

Under the leadership of a Steering Committee of local leaders representing a broad array of expertise, such as lenders, Realtors, nonprofits, construction professionals, economic development professionals and elected leaders, HPG Network launched an initiative to measure local housing market potential, and to understand what types of housing are needed and at what prices in order to fill existing gaps.

The Steering Committee chose three sites that were city-controlled for specific focus, including the downtown and a city-owned site near the mall.  The third is the site of the former Tipton Elementary School.  Each of the sites were studied and included in the analysis. Although those sites were the top three priorities, several other sites in the city remain under consideration for housing development and renovation, Kitchell said.

The next step is for HPG Network to guide the Steering Committee through the steps necessary to launch a catalyst project at one of the three sites, which will include identifying a high capacity development partner that will be tasked with engaging with the surrounding community to plan and develop the site.  A request for qualifications was issued by the City on March 6 and responses are due March 26.  The Steering Committee will interview respondents at its April meeting.  

SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell

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