FREMONT, Neb (KMTV) — The city of Fremont has been crunching the numbers on how many affordable homes it has available, and their research shows the growing city still has a ways to go if it wants to keep up with demand
“We just completed our affordable housing study that found we have to have 1500 units of affordable housing over the next ten years,” said Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg.
Officials in Fremont are hoping that a few different strategies will pay off with more affordable housing.
The first is building up their stock of new affordable homes.
“At the housing authority we will build 5 developments over 5 years. Basically they are low income housing tax credits then we partner with the Department of Economic Development. We have three of them built, one is being built right now with one to go,” said Rita Grigg, Director
Rita Grigg is the executive director of the Fremont Housing Agency, which provides affordable housing units for the community.
The agency offers everything from studio apartments to multi-bedroom homes to fit the needs of individuals or families.
“We are probably, with all of the units that we have, I would say around 10% vacancy right now,” said Grigg.
Private developers are also playing a part in increasing the amount of affordable housing.
The city recently gave the green light on a new lakeside development that they hope will cause a domino effect that opens up more housing stock across the city.
“It’s all interconnected. We approved the Hills Farm up to 211 new lakefront housing lots. That all helps because folks move up to a new home and that opens up the current housing stock,” said Spellerberg.
For advocates like Grigg who work to make sure folks are housed affordably the efforts of the city aren’t going unnoticed.
“Sometimes when we live in a community for a long time we forget what we have, but it’s a gem here in Fremont. It’s wonderful,” said Grigg.
