County 8: Allen

On both the state and national levels, we’ve had debates on how to best create jobs and opportunities. I firmly believe that the government does not create jobs, nor can it create demand where none exists.

But we found when we visited Huntertown, just north of Fort Wayne, that when the demand exists, a little tax incentive can help turn that demand into reality. I visited Cameron Crossing, a new neighborhood by Fort Wayne’s Keller Development, in early September. Finishing touches were being put on the residential units, which ranged from one- to four-bedrooms. A waiting list for these units developed even before the company began advertising available units.

On the first day in-person applications were accepted, Keller staff expected the crowd to be so large that they asked the utility companies to send representatives to sign up new residents while they waited.

To build these units, Keller took advantage of Section 42 Rental Housing Tax Credits. This program, administered by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, simply provides a federal tax incentive to build affordable housing units.

It’s a program that has provided excellent housing opportunities across Indiana. And when the project is in the hands of a good developer like Keller, they are housing opportunities that last. One of their employees said a similar development in Fort Wayne several years ago met some community resistance because of the stigma of “affordable housing”. But decades later, that development and many others are as peaceful and as beautiful as ever.

Cameron Crossing is a good example of the positive projects that can be built when the government simply incentivizes private investment.