Collingwood Green Phase II represents a fresh start in Toledo, Ohio.
The 68-unit family housing development is a key component in replacing one of the oldest public housing sites in the nation. The new community is a stark contrast from the aging, obsolete Brand Whitlock Homes and Albertus Brown Homes, a concentration of more than 400 public housing units built nearly 80 years ago and demolished in 2011.
The second phase of Collingwood Green, which was completed at the end of 2015, provides two- and three-bedroom apartments for families. The first phase delivered 65 housing units for seniors.
“[Phase two] has allowed families to come back to this particular community,” says Linnie Willis, executive director of the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA). “That was part of the planning process.”
The new housing is helping erase the stigma of the neighborhood as it improves the site.
Determined not to repeat the old, superblock-style of public housing, which has often increased segregation and isolation, the LMHA adopted a more organic urban layout that will be more walkable and create a more pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.
“There are no townhouses like these in this particular neighborhood at all,” Willis says. Her agency took several years to work with the community to carefully craft a large revitalization project, which will include additional phases of mixed-income housing. When completed, the new development will have 272 replacement units.
With a high number of residents being single parents with children, phase two's social services package is heavily focused on education and employment opportunities for both children and parents.
The $15.7 million development offers 34 public housing and 34 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) apartments. Approximately $10 million in LIHTC equity was provided by Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing.
