George Tabit serves as senior vice president of Real Estate Development for The Community Builders and is a resident of Bexley.
The affordable housing crisis has dominated headlines and preoccupied federal lawmakers, who combined nearly 60 standalone pieces of legislation to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
The need is real.
Our state faces a shortage of 266,000 affordable housing units, according to the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
Bridging that gap would do far more than just create options for all families.
Research from the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio shows that building even half of the region’s needed number of affordable homes could create 40,000 jobs annually, increase life expectancy by five years and help 3,000 more third graders meet state reading benchmarks.
We recognize the problem and understand the benefits of solving it. Surveys, including a recent poll by Affordable Housing Alliance, document broad public support for accelerating affordable housing options.
New ideas are needed to address affordable housing
That’s the good news.
The challenge often lies in transforming ideals into infrastructure.
When projects begin to advance from concept to implementation, they often stall, especially in suburban communities.
Outdated zoning codes, mismatched building requirements and unresolved concerns from neighbors rooted sometimes in misunderstandings or a lack of meaningful engagement, all can delay or derail projects altogether.
That’s the reality behind the news.
We need affordable housing. We want affordable housing. But we won’t get there by relying on old approaches.
It’s time to embrace a new mode that calls for authentic collaboration, transparency and an emphasis on shared outcomes and values. This is required to push more projects across the finish line quickly and in all communities, not just our larger cities.
The Bexley example
A recent partnership with the city of Bexley offers a useful case study. While the project encountered some opposition, as has been reported in the Dispatch, it is great to report that, later this year, Bexley will become the first of the first-generation Columbus suburbs to welcome a new family affordable housing development.
The Bexley Apartments – a mixed-income community paired with a new senior center – will soon break ground thanks to the city and The Community Builders.
The Community Builders is a nonprofit developer that has built or preserved more than 35,000 apartment homes across 30 metro areas since 1964, including 22 projects in Ohio totaling around 2,000 units.
The development will include 43 one-, two- and three-bedroom affordable units across two sites, 420 N. Cassady Avenue and 2300 E. Livingston Avenue, along with intergenerational services and a high-quality urban design.
As a representative of The Community Builders, I know that we set out to find a central location so residents could connect to services and opportunities. We also have been and will be committed to meaningful engagement with neighbors and city leaders, striving at all times to be responsive and adaptable in building and then managing these units.
For example, feedback from the community and the architectural review board led to multiple revisions to the project design. Their input ultimately strengthened the final plans.
The project didn’t happen overnight
Bexley achieved this breakthrough effort through years of intentional planning and work.
The foundation was laid in 2015, when Bexley City Council expanded existing tax abatement programs to craft new incentives for affordable housing, incentives which will directly benefit this redevelopment.
City leaders clearly and repeatedly stated that all housing was a priority, including market rate, mixed-income and otherwise.
They embedded calls for housing in the Southwest Bexley Strategic Plan (2017), the City’s Strategic Plan (2023) and the more recently updated Land Use Strategy (2025), which also reaffirmed Bexley’s role in responding to regional needs in housing, transit and connectivity.
The Bexley Community Improvement Corporation, a city-affiliated non-profit, supported our partnership from the start, effectively donating land on North Cassady to help minimize direct project costs.
The city’s economic development team synced with us to help guide the project through zoning processes and suggested design innovations – including expanded senior center space, outdoor seating and community gardens.
“Residents with limited incomes deserve access to safe, high-quality housing in every part of our community, not just in isolated pockets,” Bexley Mayor Ben Kessler said. “ (The Community Builders’) dual-site approach will create thoughtful, well-integrated homes that expand opportunity, strengthen our neighborhoods and reflect Bexley’s commitment to being a welcoming place for all. To also create a new space for our senior community members on North Cassady only bolsters this development as an excellent addition to Bexley.”
The resulting dual-site development advances Franklin County’s broader goals for equitable growth, strategic reinvestment and inclusive community revitalization.
In the end, several key factors contributed to Bexley’s ability to achieve this milestone:
Expanding access to affordable housing will not happen overnight.
Projects like Bexley’s teach us that by committing to transparency, innovation and shared goals we can move closer to solutions that strengthen our cities and our neighborhoods.
George Tabit serves as senior vice president of Real Estate Development for The Community Builders and is a resident of Bexley.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Forward-thinking Bexley shows what innovative affordable housing looks like | Opinion
Reporting by George Tabit, Guest Columnist / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By George Tabit, Guest Columnist | USA TODAY Network
