The Residences at Career Gateway is an innovative development that brings together affordable housing and job training in Columbus, Ohio.
Recently completed by The NRP Group and Community Development for All People, the project delivers 58 homes for residents earning no more than 60% of the area median income. That alone would have been enough, but the developers wanted to create a project with even more impact, so they involved Nationwide Children’s Hospital, an institutional anchor in the neighborhood, early on in the planning stages.
The relationship led to the inclusion of a 2,500-square-foot training and conference room at the development that’s used by the hospital to hold regular job training programs for residents, says Aaron Pechota, senior vice president at The NRP Group, estimating that the hospital hosts about 15 to 20 hours of programs a week.
This training will hopefully be a stepping stone for residents to obtain new and better jobs. On the other side, the hospital, which contributed $300,000 to the development, benefits from having a strong pool of job candidates in its backyard.
The training room is also available for other community partners to host workshops for all members of the community.
Financing for the $12 million development includes low-income housing tax credit equity from Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing.
The Residences at Career Gateway is also notable because it revitalizes a site that recently housed a vacant elementary school. After demolishing the school, NRP developed a mix of building types—apartments and townhomes—so the project would appeal to small and growing families and blend in with the neighborhood.
“These types of developments help level the playing field,” Pechota says. “They’re not just providing housing; they’re bringing opportunities into their neighborhoods.”
