Greater Lafayette’s growth is worth celebrating — and it’s something I’ve witnessed firsthand during the decades I’ve called Lafayette home. New investment, expanding employers and Purdue University continue to create opportunities that bring people to our community and give those already here more reasons to stay.
Several years ago, our region recognized that sustaining that growth would require something fundamental: enough places for people to live.
The Greater Lafayette READI Regional Housing Study, first published in 2023, reinforced that challenge. It projected that Tippecanoe County would need 11,079 additional housing units through 2030 to accommodate expected household growth, maintain a healthy vacancy rate and replace units lost from the market — an average of about 1,385 new homes each year, with 40% to 45% of that need falling on Lafayette specifically.
Those were significant, even intimidating, numbers. But our community listened and rallied around a plan to support that growth.
Across Greater Lafayette, we’ve seen new housing developments move forward and new investment in properties built to accommodate this growing population. Our recent opening of Element 26, a 78-unit apartment community in the Columbian Park neighborhood, is one small part of that broader response.
We’re proud to contribute to this progress — and we understand there’s more work to do.
The READI study identified three major forces behind Tippecanoe County’s housing demand: employment opportunities and business expansion, continued growth at Purdue, and the need for more attainable housing options. These forces are connected.
Housing is tied to our ability to grow our economy.
When an employer expands or puts down roots in Greater Lafayette, the people filling those jobs need homes. When a Purdue graduate considers staying here to begin a career, housing is part of that decision. When a company considers investing in our region, its ability to attract and retain a workforce matters. In that sense, housing is economic infrastructure.
No single type of development will meet the needs identified in the housing study. We need single-family homes, apartments and other choices that reflect the different stages of life and circumstances of the people who call this community home.
One promising addition to that mix is the Greater Lafayette Community Land Trust, now taking shape with support from the city of Lafayette. A community land trust maintains ownership of the land while selling the home on it to an income-qualified buyer at a reduced price, a long-term ground lease and resale formula then keep that same homeaffordable for the next buyer, and the one after that.
That model speaks directly to the “attainable housing” piece of the READI findings, targeting households earning 80% of the area’s median income. Early projections call for its portfolio to grow from 5 million homes in 2027 to as many as 125 million by 2030 — a modest slice of the county’s overall need, but one designed to stay affordable for generations of buyers.
Iron Men has been identified as one of the potential developer partners as the trust builds out that portfolio, and we’re glad to be part of a model built to keep homes affordable for the long run.
We should also continue looking for opportunities to put vacant and underused properties back to productive use. Element 26, for example, added 78 homes on property that had sat vacant for years. Projects like it can add housing while reinvesting in established parts of our community.
Greater Lafayette identified its housing challenge and has made meaningful progress addressing it. Now we need to sustain that momentum because economic growth is about people. And if we want more people to build careers, families and futures in our community, we have to make room for them to call it home.
Joe Blake is principal of Lafayette-based Iron Men Properties.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Op-ed: Why Greater Lafayette needs more homes to grow
Reporting by Joe Blake, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Joe Blake, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
