CoAction is selling its property at 2001 Calumet Ave. in Valparaiso to invest in more modern housing. It’s a pivot toward housing that people making less than $30 an hour can afford.
“We’re trying to direct ourselves more into the diversion of homelessness,” President and CEO Jen Trowbridge said Wednesday.
The former apartment building, built in 1966, was acquired by Housing Opportunities in 2011, Chief Housing Officer Jordan Stanfill said.
Housing Opportunities merged with CoAction in August 2023. “As mergers go, you have to do a lot of business decisions,” Trowbridge said. Among them was examining whether it would be smart to invest an estimated $5 million into the former apartment building to refresh it or sell it and build new elsewhere. The Housing Opportunities board had been pondering it for a few years before putting the decision on hold while the merger was being contemplated.
In addition to the housing units, CoAction has office space spread over three stories in the building closest to Calumet Avenue. There are a lot of small rooms, but they’re not conducive to networking and collaborating, not to mention accessibility issues. “Even on the staff end, it’s not ideal,” Trowbridge said.
Several years ago, the property was valued at about $2.5 million.
“We could do a better investment if we’re not putting money into this property and repairing it,” CoAction decided.
The property includes 15 units for low-income housing and some shelter use.
Programs like Family Promise and Daybreak have done much to help people in crisis, Trowbridge said. CoAction is leaving that sector of the housing assistance field to them. “We want to be in the diversion space and the housing stability space,” she said.
The units at Calumet Avenue devoted to shelter use aren’t ideal. “Once they live in an apartment-like setting, it’s hard to transition them out,” Trowbridge said. “Shelters need to have some communal elements to it.”
CoAction has other properties throughout seven counties in Northwest Indiana, including some in Valparaiso. “We actually added 36 units to Valpo over the last three years,” she said.
“We build in Lake, Porter, LaPorte. We can build in rural,” Trowbridge said. “The hardest part is the land and zoning.”
Where the next homes will be developed depends on where suitable land can be found. It has to be zoned correctly, and the city has to be committed to housing people earning less than $30 an hour.
Like other agencies, CoAction applies for special tax credit funding to subsidize the housing. It’s a competitive process, with only 30% of grant applications successful.
With that assistance, CoAction can build apartments that retail, restaurant and other workers can afford, Trowbridge said.
“We like to build usually no less than 30 units. Thirty to 50 units is usually great for a project,” with two buildings possible for larger developments.
Across the region, CoAction’s portfolio has 275 units. Selling the Calumet Avenue property will bring that number to 260, but Trowbridge hopes to quickly increase it to 300. She’d like to see 100 new units built every year, but that’s not easy to accomplish.
Money from the sale of the Calumet Avenue property will help close the funding gap for new projects. Even with the incentives, Trowbridge said, “there’s still a $1 million gap or maybe more, depending on what the project is.”
Trowbridge acknowledged there has been a lot of attention lately on housing affordability. Builders erect higher-priced homes to get more profit than they would from less expensive homes. Those high-priced homes are needed so people can move up to more deluxe homes, freeing up others along all price points.
But with supply low and demand high, she said, “the city has to be intentional and create special housing for people who can only afford $150,000 or $200,000.”
As the agency looks for a buyer, existing residents at the Calumet Avenue site will be transitioned into housing elsewhere.
“This sale is about doing more, not less, for our communities,” Stanfill said. “We are committed to expanding affordable housing and continuing to work closely with our local partners to make that happen.”
Housing is just one area where CoAction helps Northwest Indiana residents. “We’re all over Valpo supporting the residents, from prenatal care to older adults,” Trowbridge said.
“We’re a community development org. We’re all over Valpo in a lot of ways.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
