In a regular meeting on April 20, Oberlin City Council heard a presentation from City Manager Greg Holcomb on the development of Green Acres — a housing development intended to provide sustainable, affordable living for the Oberlin population. The site, purchased in 2011, is located on the northeast corner of the intersection between Oberlin Road and East Lorain Street. It will contain single-unit homes, multi-unit condominiums, and a public park.
The presentation to Council showed 17 single-unit homes constructed on the site. Home buyers would enter contracts with one of two pre-selected firms, and Council would approve the sale of the property. The contracting company MMY US constructs modular homes, which are built off-site and then delivered to the housing lot. In an interview with the Review, Holcomb emphasized that all MMY US homes are LEED Platinum Standard certified, which is the highest level of sustainability verification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. Those interested in contracting a house will also have the option of using local Oberlin contractor Norm Bevan.
In addition to the single-unit homes, 16 units of condominium housing would be erected. There are three proposed condo models, which would make up a collection of individual buildings, duplexes, and triplexes. The designs proposed in the presentation were inspired by open-source blueprints from Cully Grove, a sustainable community in Portland, OR, upon which the current Green Acres vision is modeled.
Construction of single-unit housing is set to begin shortly, with park construction beginning in the spring of 2027 and multi-unit construction following in late 2027 or early 2028.
The idea of a multi-unit complex raised some complaints from the community in April 2024. Holcomb said that he believes residents were concerned about multi-family housing because of negative stereotypes regarding people who rent apartments rather than buy homes. He indicated that a portion of locals were concerned that renters would not be invested in maintaining the neighborhood, emphasizing that multi-unit, mixed-income homes would help fill the need for affordable and senior housing outlined in the City of Oberlin’s Comprehensive Plan.
Urban Planning Assistant Ian Anderson, OC ’24, created the site drawings presented to the Council. Having been an Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College, Anderson noted that his experience in the classroom prepared him for the task.
“It was very similar to some of the classes that I’d taken, being given a site and being given parameters and being [told] ‘Hey, apply some of the sustainable principles that you’ve learned to this project,’” he said.
Sustainable elements are incorporated into the housing and landscaping plans for Green Acres, including condo designs that are insulated for maximum heating and cooling efficiency, low-flow appliances that would reduce water usage, and a sustainable urban drainage system, which includes small sections of wetland to help retain stormwater on-site.
“The vision for the whole park [is] having signage, playground equipment, and interactive displays that educate about the local ecosystem and that try to associate learning with play,” Anderson said.
He hopes that trails running through Green Acres will connect to a wetlands park currently being developed at the intersection of Oberlin Road and Highway 511. The development would also have a direct connection to the Oberlin bike path.
“I’m trying to just really reinforce the walkability of Oberlin itself and trying to encourage walking and biking for residents, at least when taking trips within Oberlin,” Anderson said.
Two of the 17 lots in Green Acres are currently being reserved for development through the Welcome Home Ohio grant, to which the Lorain County Land Bank applied in early January. If full funding is not awarded, the lot will likely be developed by one of the two contractors already connected to the project.
City Council President Eboni A. Johnson, OC ’97, reacted positively to the plan and expressed excitement for the land being developed after a long period of vacancy.
“This is really cool,” Johnson said. “I kind of got a little shiver when I first read through the presentation. It seems like this has been two or three Councils’-worth of work to get here, and it feels really good to see the concept getting ready to go.”
