A vacant lot on Youngstown's South Side that sat empty for more than a decade is finally getting new life. Wallick Communities held a ceremonial groundbreaking Friday for Homestead Crossing, a $36 million affordable apartment complex rising at 800 E. Indianola Ave. on the site of the former Woodside Receiving Hospital and Lincoln Behavioral Center.
The 120-unit development will span five three-story buildings, according to WYTV, with a mix of 30 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 18 three-bedroom units. Wallick, based in New Albany, Ohio, bought the property with help from the city's land utilization program, the station reported. Project financing details were reported by the Business Journal Daily, whose Denise Dick covered Friday's event.
Woodside Receiving Hospital closed in 1996, while Lincoln Behavioral Center closed in 2008. The vacant building was eventually razed in 2014, leaving the South Side parcel empty for years. A separate proposal to build apartments for people with mental illnesses on the site was announced in April 2024 but never materialized, according to the Vindicator.
Rents Capped for Households Earning Up to 60% of Area Median Income
Every unit at Homestead Crossing is reserved for households earning up to 60% of Mahoning County's area median income, with rents designed so residents spend no more than 30% of their income on housing, per the project's own news release. Monthly rents are expected to range from $750 to $1,200, according to WKBN. The development is designed to remain affordable for at least 30 years, the company release states.
Each apartment will come with a fully equipped kitchen featuring a dishwasher and garbage disposal, plus washer-dryer hookups and storage space. Site-wide amenities will include a playground, community building, exercise room, central laundry facility and covered patio, according to the project's application filed with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. That same application classifies the development as new construction for general occupancy rather than age-restricted housing.
Construction costs have been reported differently across sources. WKBN's earlier coverage pegged the project at $35 million, while the Ohio Housing Finance Agency application lists total development costs of $34,437,083; Friday's groundbreaking coverage from WKBN and the Business Journal Daily put the figure at $36 million.
Tax Credits and State Financing Behind the Project
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency approved Wallick Development LLC for a $2.5 million Housing Development Loan and a $10 million allocation in Ohio Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, with the development also set to receive 4% federal tax credits, the agency announced. Wallick is among the first developers in Ohio to combine the state low-income housing tax credit with federal housing tax credits, and Homestead Crossing marks the company's second project using Ohio housing credits. The state board approved financing for 13 housing developments statewide this year to create or preserve affordable units, according to the agency.
Wallick CEO Amy Albery said Homestead Crossing marks the company's growth across the state, and offices representing U.S. Senator Jon Husted and U.S. Representative Michael Rulli presented certificates to Albery at the ceremony. Carrie Manno, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency's single family tax credit section chief, said affordable housing development requires vision and dedication and cannot be done alone. Ohio State Representative Lauren McNally, who previously served on Youngstown City Council, introduced the legislation that created Ohio's affordable housing tax credit program.
City Officials Call It Long-Awaited Investment
Youngstown City Councilwoman Amber White, who represents the 7th Ward, said Wallick presented the project to her about a year before the groundbreaking and that she was happy to see it move forward. White said the project would let people live and work at the site within about 18 months. DeMaine Kitchen, Youngstown's director of community planning and economic development, thanked Wallick for investing in the city and told WFMJ, “We've not seen this level of investment in the city in quite some time.”
Construction is expected to wrap up and apartments to be move-in ready sometime in 2028, according to WKBN's report from the groundbreaking. Homestead Crossing marks Wallick's first project in northeastern Ohio.
A Region Still Short on Affordable Units
The project arrives amid a documented shortage of affordable rental housing across the Mahoning Valley. A 2024 housing needs assessment from the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments found a deficit of at least 4,015 rental units affordable to households earning 0% to 30% of area median income. Rents and household incomes in Mahoning County each grew 7% from 2018 to 2022. The assessment found that minimum-wage workers in the Mahoning Valley needed to work 60 hours a week in 2023 to afford a two-bedroom apartment without being cost-burdened.
Wait times for existing housing-authority units have also stretched long: the Eastgate assessment put the average wait at 12 to 18 months as of early 2024. Separately, state officials have said they are working to preserve older affordable properties as they near the end of their 30-year affordability periods, according to WKBN's earlier reporting on the development.
