Funding will be used to connect new homes on 100 infill lots to existing water and sanitary sewer infrastructure, helping bring long-vacant residential parcels back into productive use.
Hamilton owns more than 250 residential parcels ready for redevelopment. The first 10 homes of the city’s Build Back the Block effort are expected to be constructed this year, as previously reported by Journal-News.
The initiative that was formally announced at the March 2025 Hamilton Neighborhoods Summit. It broke ground on its first two homes on East Avenue in September and aims to transform vacant lots into 100 affordable, owner‑occupied homes by 2030. Construction on seven more homes, one on Maple Avenue and six on Ludlow Street, launched at the end of February.
Once completed, the homes will be sold below construction cost to low- to moderate-income families, helping strengthen existing neighborhoods while expanding homeownership opportunities
“This project supports housing demand created by investments from the Amazon.com facility in Monroe and other regional economic development projects,” the governor and the department of development said in the announcement.
Also receiving grants are the cities for infrastructure projects arethe cities of Lancaster ($1 million), Youngstown ($2.5 million), Antwerp ($2.3 million) and Warren ($851,000)
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Local governments within a 20-mile radius of a major economic development project were eligible to apply for funding to expand housing‑related infrastructure, enhance public safety and community services or invest in capital projects that support new housing development.
The Ohio Department of Development received 48 eligible applications in this funding round, requesting nearly $99 million in total.
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