Officials: Valparaiso's recent housing symposium is the start of the process
A recent symposium on housing in Valparaiso is only the start of the process, city officials said, as the community addresses a need for what Mayor Jon Costas called 'more attainable housing units.'
The May 29 symposium, with the consultant Capital Stacker founder Heather Presley-Cowen, made a broad suggestion for adding housing over the next five years for the market potential for what one chart called 'affordable/workforce and market-rate' housing.
The figures call for a mix of rental apartments, condominiums, townhomes and single-family residences. Rental apartments, followed by detached homes, take up the brunt of the units, with up to 195 units and 149 units, respectively, in each of the next five years. The rest of the units are condominiums and townhomes.
'I'm glad we're having these conversations because housing is a complex issue and every community is different,' said Costas, who was part of a 19-member committee put together by Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd, who is spearheading the effort.
'What as a city can we do?' Costas said, adding the city has a balance of housing and is a growing community. 'We have a couple challenges, including affordability all around, but particularly in more attainable housing units.'
Because the city is a desirable place to live, that's driving up the cost of housing, Costas said. Zoning and unified development ordinance changes can help.
'We're also looking to increase density where it's appropriate,' which could include a mix of types of housing units within a development, he added. Existing mixed housing can be found in the Aberdeen and Keystone subdivisions.
'Attainable single-family homes is probably the greatest need for our community because the market has everything over $350,000 covered,' Costas said.
Over the past decade, the city has undertaken several traditional housing studies to better understand the dynamics of the local housing market, Cotton said in a statement provided to the Post-Tribune, but the recent effort is a departure from past approaches.
'This time, we set out not just to study existing conditions, but to assess our city's market potential for new housing development — specifically in the income range that has been largely abandoned by the private market: 60% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI),' Cotton said in the statement.
The approach, said Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, who also is serving on the committee, isn't focused just on rentals.
'We're talking about house ownership, the 'missing middle,'' she said. 'For home ownership, there aren't a lot of options' for would-be homeowners whose earnings fall within the AMI cited by Cotton.
For a four-person household in Porter County, that range would be from $48,650 to $76,500, according to market analysis information compiled by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. presented at the symposium.
'I believe in what we're doing and it's important to address, and we can only really do that by having a broad understanding of what's going on,' Kapitan said.
Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th, who attended the symposium, has an assortment of concerns about the process by which council members received the market analysis, among other details.
'This information was received by Councilman Cotton and then he met with citizens in private before the information was released to the rest of the council,' Anderson said. 'That's a transparency issue.'
The market analysis, he said, has implications for public safety, the school system and property values.
'What the study suggests, that's a big deal,' he said.
Council members often take on projects and he's comfortable with Cotton taking the lead on housing, but things seem to have moved beyond that scope and into secrecy, Anderson said, questioning who is on the steering committee and what they have discussed in their meetings.
'It doesn't instill confidence in me that we're going to have broad public discussion' which is needed, he said.
Sitting in on the symposium, Anderson said, it was 'very clear' what direction the city was moving in, and he doesn't know whether the council as a whole will talk about it. He's also concerned that two of the drivers of affordable housing are density and land donated by the city.
'That's ultimately going to be the point. It's a government-subsidized thing,' he said.
Cotton said Costas, through the board of works, contracted with Zimmerman/Volk for the housing market analysis, for $35,000. That included additional consulting services, like public outreach and housing symposiums.
An initial review of the findings was presented to an informal steering committee composed of approximately 19 individuals, Cotton said, which included Costas; nonprofits, a member from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission; board members from the nonprofit Paradise Homes; and three members from the council — Cotton, Kapitan, D-At-large, and Councilwoman Barbara Domer, D-3rd.
Access to the market potential analysis, Cotton said, was made available to any interested council members, and 'in compliance with Indiana's Open Door Law, no more than three council members participated in the initial due diligence phase.'
Valparaiso doesn't have a formal housing policy, Cotton said, nor is the city in the business of building homes.
'Rather, our objective is to stimulate the market — to spark private and nonprofit activity in segments where housing production has stalled,' he said. 'By identifying where potential exists and forging partnerships with mission-driven organizations, we believe we can lay the groundwork for a sustainable, community-based housing delivery system.'
The city's plans, Costas said, are still 'amorphous,' with a lot of questions that still need to be answered, including who a developer might be and whether they would work with a nonprofit.
Paradise Community Homes, with city administrator Bill Oeding as its president, formed last year to build small homes for under $300,000, Costas said. Housing efforts also are being tackled by longstanding nonprofit Project Neighbors, among others.
'These are not competing groups but it boils down to the specifics and with the symposium, the specifics are just coming together,' Costas said.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
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Officials: Valparaiso's recent housing symposium is the start of the process
A recent symposium on housing in Valparaiso is only the start of the process, city officials said, as the community addresses a need for what Mayor Jon Costas called 'more attainable housing units.' The May 29 symposium, with the consultant Capital Stacker founder Heather Presley-Cowen, made a broad suggestion for adding housing over the next five years for the market potential for what one chart called 'affordable/workforce and market-rate' housing. The figures call for a mix of rental apartments, condominiums, townhomes and single-family residences. Rental apartments, followed by detached homes, take up the brunt of the units, with up to 195 units and 149 units, respectively, in each of the next five years. The rest of the units are condominiums and townhomes. 'I'm glad we're having these conversations because housing is a complex issue and every community is different,' said Costas, who was part of a 19-member committee put together by Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd, who is spearheading the effort. 'What as a city can we do?' Costas said, adding the city has a balance of housing and is a growing community. 'We have a couple challenges, including affordability all around, but particularly in more attainable housing units.' Because the city is a desirable place to live, that's driving up the cost of housing, Costas said. Zoning and unified development ordinance changes can help. 'We're also looking to increase density where it's appropriate,' which could include a mix of types of housing units within a development, he added. Existing mixed housing can be found in the Aberdeen and Keystone subdivisions. 'Attainable single-family homes is probably the greatest need for our community because the market has everything over $350,000 covered,' Costas said. Over the past decade, the city has undertaken several traditional housing studies to better understand the dynamics of the local housing market, Cotton said in a statement provided to the Post-Tribune, but the recent effort is a departure from past approaches. 'This time, we set out not just to study existing conditions, but to assess our city's market potential for new housing development — specifically in the income range that has been largely abandoned by the private market: 60% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI),' Cotton said in the statement. The approach, said Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, who also is serving on the committee, isn't focused just on rentals. 'We're talking about house ownership, the 'missing middle,'' she said. 'For home ownership, there aren't a lot of options' for would-be homeowners whose earnings fall within the AMI cited by Cotton. For a four-person household in Porter County, that range would be from $48,650 to $76,500, according to market analysis information compiled by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. presented at the symposium. 'I believe in what we're doing and it's important to address, and we can only really do that by having a broad understanding of what's going on,' Kapitan said. Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th, who attended the symposium, has an assortment of concerns about the process by which council members received the market analysis, among other details. 'This information was received by Councilman Cotton and then he met with citizens in private before the information was released to the rest of the council,' Anderson said. 'That's a transparency issue.' The market analysis, he said, has implications for public safety, the school system and property values. 'What the study suggests, that's a big deal,' he said. Council members often take on projects and he's comfortable with Cotton taking the lead on housing, but things seem to have moved beyond that scope and into secrecy, Anderson said, questioning who is on the steering committee and what they have discussed in their meetings. 'It doesn't instill confidence in me that we're going to have broad public discussion' which is needed, he said. Sitting in on the symposium, Anderson said, it was 'very clear' what direction the city was moving in, and he doesn't know whether the council as a whole will talk about it. He's also concerned that two of the drivers of affordable housing are density and land donated by the city. 'That's ultimately going to be the point. It's a government-subsidized thing,' he said. Cotton said Costas, through the board of works, contracted with Zimmerman/Volk for the housing market analysis, for $35,000. That included additional consulting services, like public outreach and housing symposiums. An initial review of the findings was presented to an informal steering committee composed of approximately 19 individuals, Cotton said, which included Costas; nonprofits, a member from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission; board members from the nonprofit Paradise Homes; and three members from the council — Cotton, Kapitan, D-At-large, and Councilwoman Barbara Domer, D-3rd. Access to the market potential analysis, Cotton said, was made available to any interested council members, and 'in compliance with Indiana's Open Door Law, no more than three council members participated in the initial due diligence phase.' Valparaiso doesn't have a formal housing policy, Cotton said, nor is the city in the business of building homes. 'Rather, our objective is to stimulate the market — to spark private and nonprofit activity in segments where housing production has stalled,' he said. 'By identifying where potential exists and forging partnerships with mission-driven organizations, we believe we can lay the groundwork for a sustainable, community-based housing delivery system.' The city's plans, Costas said, are still 'amorphous,' with a lot of questions that still need to be answered, including who a developer might be and whether they would work with a nonprofit. Paradise Community Homes, with city administrator Bill Oeding as its president, formed last year to build small homes for under $300,000, Costas said. Housing efforts also are being tackled by longstanding nonprofit Project Neighbors, among others. 'These are not competing groups but it boils down to the specifics and with the symposium, the specifics are just coming together,' Costas said. alavalley@
Chicago Tribune
5 hours ago
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Officials: Valparaiso's recent housing symposium is the start of the process
A recent symposium on housing in Valparaiso is only the start of the process, city officials said, as the community addresses a need for what Mayor Jon Costas called 'more attainable housing units.' The May 29 symposium, with the consultant Capital Stacker founder Heather Presley-Cowen, made a broad suggestion for adding housing over the next five years for the market potential for what one chart called 'affordable/workforce and market-rate' housing. The figures call for a mix of rental apartments, condominiums, townhomes and single-family residences. Rental apartments, followed by detached homes, take up the brunt of the units, with up to 195 units and 149 units, respectively, in each of the next five years. The rest of the units are condominiums and townhomes. 'I'm glad we're having these conversations because housing is a complex issue and every community is different,' said Costas, who was part of a 19-member committee put together by Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd, who is spearheading the effort. 'What as a city can we do?' Costas said, adding the city has a balance of housing and is a growing community. 'We have a couple challenges, including affordability all around, but particularly in more attainable housing units.' Because the city is a desirable place to live, that's driving up the cost of housing, Costas said. Zoning and unified development ordinance changes can help. 'We're also looking to increase density where it's appropriate,' which could include a mix of types of housing units within a development, he added. Existing mixed housing can be found in the Aberdeen and Keystone subdivisions. 'Attainable single-family homes is probably the greatest need for our community because the market has everything over $350,000 covered,' Costas said. Over the past decade, the city has undertaken several traditional housing studies to better understand the dynamics of the local housing market, Cotton said in a statement provided to the Post-Tribune, but the recent effort is a departure from past approaches. 'This time, we set out not just to study existing conditions, but to assess our city's market potential for new housing development — specifically in the income range that has been largely abandoned by the private market: 60% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI),' Cotton said in the statement. The approach, said Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, who also is serving on the committee, isn't focused just on rentals. 'We're talking about house ownership, the 'missing middle,'' she said. 'For home ownership, there aren't a lot of options' for would-be homeowners whose earnings fall within the AMI cited by Cotton. For a four-person household in Porter County, that range would be from $48,650 to $76,500, according to market analysis information compiled by Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. presented at the symposium. 'I believe in what we're doing and it's important to address, and we can only really do that by having a broad understanding of what's going on,' Kapitan said. Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th, who attended the symposium, has an assortment of concerns about the process by which council members received the market analysis, among other details. 'This information was received by Councilman Cotton and then he met with citizens in private before the information was released to the rest of the council,' Anderson said. 'That's a transparency issue.' The market analysis, he said, has implications for public safety, the school system and property values. 'What the study suggests, that's a big deal,' he said. Council members often take on projects and he's comfortable with Cotton taking the lead on housing, but things seem to have moved beyond that scope and into secrecy, Anderson said, questioning who is on the steering committee and what they have discussed in their meetings. 'It doesn't instill confidence in me that we're going to have broad public discussion' which is needed, he said. Sitting in on the symposium, Anderson said, it was 'very clear' what direction the city was moving in, and he doesn't know whether the council as a whole will talk about it. He's also concerned that two of the drivers of affordable housing are density and land donated by the city. 'That's ultimately going to be the point. It's a government-subsidized thing,' he said. Cotton said Costas, through the board of works, contracted with Zimmerman/Volk for the housing market analysis, for $35,000. That included additional consulting services, like public outreach and housing symposiums. An initial review of the findings was presented to an informal steering committee composed of approximately 19 individuals, Cotton said, which included Costas; nonprofits, a member from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission; board members from the nonprofit Paradise Homes; and three members from the council — Cotton, Kapitan, D-At-large, and Councilwoman Barbara Domer, D-3rd. Access to the market potential analysis, Cotton said, was made available to any interested council members, and 'in compliance with Indiana's Open Door Law, no more than three council members participated in the initial due diligence phase.' Valparaiso doesn't have a formal housing policy, Cotton said, nor is the city in the business of building homes. 'Rather, our objective is to stimulate the market — to spark private and nonprofit activity in segments where housing production has stalled,' he said. 'By identifying where potential exists and forging partnerships with mission-driven organizations, we believe we can lay the groundwork for a sustainable, community-based housing delivery system.' The city's plans, Costas said, are still 'amorphous,' with a lot of questions that still need to be answered, including who a developer might be and whether they would work with a nonprofit. Paradise Community Homes, with city administrator Bill Oeding as its president, formed last year to build small homes for under $300,000, Costas said. Housing efforts also are being tackled by longstanding nonprofit Project Neighbors, among others. 'These are not competing groups but it boils down to the specifics and with the symposium, the specifics are just coming together,' Costas said.
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The Roosevelt statue was paid for with donations from ordinary Britons as a gesture of gratitude to the United States for its aid in the war. Nothing sealed the American connection like the opening of Saarinen's chancery in 1960, a hulking nine-story building that was the first purpose-built embassy of any country in London. In its early days, it was reviled by some critics as a jarring intrusion on the genteel Georgian symmetry of the square. 'It had this sense of America being big and bold, and in a British context, a sense of 'Wow, how American,'' said Matthew Barzun, the last U.S. ambassador to have an office in the building. Barzun, who witnessed ups and downs in the trans-Atlantic relationship over Syria and Brexit, said the old embassy was designed to be 'light and open and welcoming.' But after the terrorist bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, 'we added more and more fences and bollards,' he said. 'You start out building things to keep people out,' Barzun said, 'but you end up trapping people in.' Converting a diplomatic fortress into a sleek, five-star hotel was a design and engineering test for Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The Qataris brought in Rosewood, a luxury hotel chain that was started in Dallas and is now owned by a Hong Kong conglomerate. 'Creating warmth was the biggest challenge,' said Michael Bonsor, the hotel's managing director, as he offered a sneak peek. 'You have this juxtaposition of one of the most secure, fortified buildings in London, where Marines used to run around with machine guns. It wasn't the most hospitable building in the world.' Dapper and discreet, Bonsor could have been a diplomat if he hadn't gone into hospitality. He said the hotel would make nods to its past, but would avoid becoming a Cold War-style theme park. In addition to the eagle, which is a protected landmark, the hotel has reinstalled statues of Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan that once flanked the building (the statues are wrapped in tarp to protect them during construction). Inside, the Chancery has retained some of Saarinen's design elements, notably his exposed-concrete ceiling. But prizewinning British architect David Chipperfield has reconfigured the building to add an atrium with cascading chandeliers. Two palatial penthouses are named after Elizabeth and Charles, monarchs not presidents. The hotel said their scale would appeal to guests from the Middle East. Across the street, the proprietors of Grosvenor Square are similarly aware of the tug between past and present. While they will retain the FDR statue, as well as a memorial to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they plan to add serpentine paths and extensive plantings to soften the square's stark appearance. 'The austere design, which was important during the Cold War period, has had its day,' said Cordula Zeidler, a heritage and design expert who advised Grosvenor Property. 'Having more plantings is both a Georgian concept and something people want today.' James Raynor, the newly named CEO of Grosvenor, acknowledged the complicated political backdrop to the project. But he said, 'I don't think we should be altering it for the long term on the basis of short-term noise.' In turbulent times, Raynor even holds out hope that the 18th-century square can still serve as a 21st-century bridge. 'Will the park by itself change the diplomatic relationship between the countries?' he said. 'I doubt it. But it will allow us to recognize what the two countries have done for each other.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
