GREDF housing study ready to be presented to city, county

QUINCY — Great River Economonic Development Foundation President/CEO Kyle Moore presented a draft copy of the housing needs assessment for Adams County and Quincy to the Adams County Board Tuesday night.

Moore gave County Board members a full 250 page report and an executive summary and offered a brief summary of some of the study’s highlights from data collected over a six month period:

• Currently market rate units in Quincy and Adams County have a vacancy rate of 0.7 percent and income based units have a 3 percent vacancy rate.
• Home prices during the last year have risen nearly 9 percent.
• 66% of the community members surveyed said they will be looking for a new home in the next 10 years.
• 75% of the building industry surveyed said the lack of available labor and increased cost of supplies and lack of supplies have all hindered their ability to build new homes to keep up with demand.
• Adams County needs 400 units built this year, 500 units over the next five years and a combined 1600 In the next 10 years.

Moore said he also did research that showed 743 jobs that pay more than $32,000 are open within 10 miles of Quincy.

“Based on our study and the feedback we received, we conclude that … Adams County is in desperate need of housing in the $100,000 to $200,000 price point … we’re lacking in two to three bedroom apartments and also available rentals for families that have pets…Our developers who have land available outside of the city’s core neighborhoods and would tap into incentives if offered,” he said. “Our young professionals have said the cost to rehab older homes, coupled with the rising mortgage rates have made it difficult for them to find suitable housing.”

Moore said the report offers several strategies recommended to alleviate the housing shortfall in Adams County, including implementing incentives to reduce the cost of building new units to adopting a program to rehabilitate older homes, which reduces blighted properties and makes older homes more affordable to young families.

The County Board has voted to set aside $1 million on American Rescue Plan Act funds to match potential state or federal incentive dollars for housing, and Moore said GREDF supported that action. He said multiple counties in the state, including, Champaign, McHenry and Will have already utilized these dollars to develop new housing projects.

Moore said he planned to make the housing pitch to the Quincy City Council next week.