CINCINNATI — More housing is coming to the West End after the Cincinnati Planning Commission approved the development plan for a project Friday.
It will add five single-family homes to the corner of Freeman Avenue and Findlay Street, which will be sold at market-rates.
BOC Development is behind the project and Nick Johnson, a managing partner, grew up in the West End.
He sees this housing project as a way to revitalize the neighborhood.
“Both of us came from low-income, we have nothing against low-income, but to balance out our community, low-income has to be matched with finance," he said. “Market-rate housing, you bring a different genre of income to the community.”
Johnson thinks that will then bring change to the rest of the neighborhood.
“We can have a grocery store, so that we can have a Five Guys, a Chick-Fil-A. We need to bring income to this community in order to have those establishments,” he said.
Johnson also hopes it'll also cut down on crime.
“If this environment is gutter and blight it’s going to attract crime. When you start cleaning it up, you’re slowly cleaning up the crime because criminals don’t want to be around things that are nice," he said.
The West End Community Council is behind the project, sending a letter of support to the planning commission.
Johnson said they plan to break ground on the project in January, then it'll take nine to ten months to complete construction.
And to him, it's all about making a difference in his community.
“I have to give back in a way that’s going to affect us for the next 150 years," he said.
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