Butler-Grundy Development Alliance plans for dual-county housing needs assessment

GRUNDY COUNTY – Recently, the Butler-Grundy Development Alliance announced its plans to apply for a USDA-funded Rural Business Development grant, which would help the Alliance fund a much-needed Housing Needs Assessment survey across Grundy and Butler counties.
 
BGDA Executive Director Jeff Kolb says he and the board both feel the need for a housing assessment is extremely strong, as it has been about 20 years since the last housing assessment was done here.
 
“That information is very out of date now, and unusable,” Kolb said. “We feel it’s time for another assessment to be done; the results will be of great value to city leaders, county leaders, and developers across [both counties], and it will guide them as they go forward with planning over the next decade or more.”
 
According to Kolb, the assessment will provide an in-depth study of the housing inventory available throughout both counties, and individual towns within those counties, and it will look at the quality of the housing available. The study will also use census and population information to identify needs for certain types of developments, whether it’s high-end housing, retirement and senior housing, single family homes, multi-family units, or apartment buildings.
 
“The survey will be very in-depth and will be an amazing tool for city leaders and developers,” Kolb said. “It’s a great reference tool for cities to have when they apply for competitive housing rehab grants because it helps them score better on those applications. It’s also a great tool to help developers identify needs in the area of housing, and it comes in handy when they’re applying for help with funding because it helps them prove that there is an actual, documented need for what they’re hoping to develop.”
 
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