New residents to Fremont as well as existing home and property owners will benefit, officials said, from a $1.5 million pool of grant funds that will be distributed to eligible applicants by the Greater Fremont Development Council.
Megan Skiles, president and CEO of the GFDC, said after about 20 local businesses and organizations donated close to $500,000 in matching funds, the GFDC was awarded another $1 million from the Nebraska Rural Workforce Housing Fund grant.
Skiles said applications for the program funds will be available soon, and residents or newcomers to the city can apply to get “low-cost” loans intended to assist with transforming a range of property types in Fremont in an effort to “increase quality and affordable housing in Fremont.”
“As part of the rural workforce program, you have to raise money as a community to show you are committed to this cause. Then you can apply for the program, and (the state) will match the dollars,” Skiles said. “As a community, we raised $500,000 and it came from a number of different businesses and nonprofits, which is really great. It is something they believe in, too. The state will be matching our dollars two-to-one, so a $1 million award from the state.”
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The need for new, as well as rehabilitated, housing in Dodge County and Fremont is high, Skiles noted. That reality, she said, was hammered home for local officials after a 2017 housing study was revisited with updated statistics in late 2020.
“(The study) was really taking a look at the housing inventory across the county. And across the county, we were about 1,500 housing units short for a healthy housing economy. We knew that we needed to do some things to help catalyze that growth,” Skiles said in a telephone interview with the Tribune on Friday.
“We had applied for a housing grant through the state back in 2018. That was the 2017 Rural Workforce Housing Fund. We’ve been operating that fund since then, it has worked on projects like the Fremont Commons (apartments) and some of those developments, and single-family developments in Scribner. We had a lot of success with that program, which was trying to get new inventory on the market.”
Skiles said the Rural Workforce Housing Fund, which is managed by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, is an “inventory” based program which aims to help communities across the Cornhusker state develop and grow housing opportunities to promote growth and attract workers.
“They just want to see rural communities across the state create more housing opportunities. That really is a statewide issue. We had a lot of success (in 2018) and they had a new allotment of dollars in 2022 we were going to pursue,” Skiles said. “Our previous fund was to be used across Dodge County, but this fund will specifically be for Fremont, within Fremont’s city limits. We are hoping to focus on some in-fill development.”
Fremont is in the midst of what Mayor Joey Spellerberg has said in the start of hoped for massive economic growth and business development. The new 1,500-acre Fremont Municipal Inland Port Authority is expected to be filled with companies that need employees, who in turn will need housing.
At the moment, a housing construction boom is underway. Phase 2 of the Morningside Pointe neighborhood is now under construction on land south of Morningside Road at the intersection of Luther Road.
The SunRidge neighborhood between Luther Road and South Johnson Road is also growing with more homes and duplexes being constructed. And, plans for 60 new residences near Donna and South Howard streets is planned, as is a 147-home mansion-type gated community south of the new U.S. Highway 77 Southeast Beltway.
Skiles said a new aspect of the more recent housing grant funds program is allowing residents with “dilapidated” homes in need of repairs, upgrades and renovations that total 50% of the assessed value to apply for the loans.
“We are willing to take on projects that are ‘rehabilitation.’ If a property is severely dilapidated, we would be willing to provide funds to help those properties become great places to live again,” Skiles added.
Therese Hoyle, the director of development and grants administration for GFDC, said she was extremely grateful for the 20 entities, organizations and businesses that donated toward the pool of $500,000 matching funds.
“In this (outreach) effort, I just sent out the email to our investors … and our investors were very generous,” Hoyle explained of her fundraising efforts. “They stepped up, and said, ‘we’d be a part of this.’ It was rather quickly, it was about two weeks. They just stepped up because they know it is so necessary. We also had our own housing funds we applied to get to (the $500,000).”
The 20 entities who donated include: Abe Krasne Home Furnishings; Arps Red-E Mix, Inc.; Christensen Lumber Company; FNBO; Fremont Area Community Foundation; the Fremont Area United Way; Fremont Contract Carriers; Fremont Electric; the Gene Steffy Auto Group; Getzschman Heating; Lincoln Premium Poultry; Methodist Fremont Health; Pinnacle Bank; RTG Medical; RVR Bank; S2 Roll Offs; S&JG Holdings; Structural Components; Thompson Construction; and Walnut Media, KHUB/KFMT radio stations.
Hoyle said special appreciation was in order for the top three highest contributors to the fund: the Fremont Area Community Foundation, RTG Medical and Structural Components, Inc.
“(We) recognize their exemplary support to improving the health of Fremont’s housing,” Hoyle said of the three companies.
Skiles also said she was grateful for local collaboration, partnerships and philanthropy from area businesses and companies. Those local partnerships were also touted by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on July 18 at a ribbon cutting event for the new Fremont Southeast Beltway.
“We do live in a very generous community, which is great. We have has a lot of success with our other housing program, but the need (for housing) still exists,” Skiles added. “Investors are eager to see their dollars do things for the community.”
One of those things, Skiles and Hoyle noted, was the Wednesday, July 19, ribbon cutting ceremony in Scribner. There, two single-family standalone homes were constructed as well as a duplex, totaling four residents. Skiles said adding four new housing units to Scribner, a town of 1,000 residents, was a, “big deal.”
In an effort to assist several community housing groups, Hoyle also explained that $25,000 will be reserved for use by both the Fremont Habitat for Humanity and also the Rebuilding Together, Platte Valley East chapter.
According to a press release issued about the program, the “revolving funds,” officials stated, “give local developers and homeowners low-cost incentives to bring new life to old properties. As loans pay off, the cycle starts again with new projects.”
Under the program, property owners can, “convert space above downtown Fremont businesses to residential units; undertake major renovations equal to at least 50% of the assessed property value; or upgrade empty lots with new homes or major rehab to restore abandoned properties.”
Anyone interested in applying for grants under the program should contact Hoyle at 402-753-8126; or via email at: thoyle@fremontecodev.org.