Community Organizations Join Together to Promote Building 30,000 Homes by 2030

​Commerce Lexington is joining the Building Industry Association and Lexington For Everyone in support of the “30 by 30” housing advocacy campaign. Housing access and affordability challenges are a top concern for workforce attraction and retention.  The numbers from the Kentucky Housing Corporation and a city-commissioned study by EHI are staggering.  To meet existing need, Lexington needs 22,000 new housing units – 14,000 rental and 8,000 single family – right now. By 2030, that number will exceed 30,000. Meanwhile, the city is only building about 600 new homes per year – about one-third of what Lexington was building before the Great Recession. 

Here are five steps local business leaders are urging local government to enact to help to increase access to land and cut down on government bureaucracy:

1. Establish a housing goal for 2030 and create a housing tracker to ensure accountability and a data-driven process.
2. Conduct an annual review of vacant land and discuss what incentives or partnerships might be needed to create housing on that land.
3. Explore opportunities for unused or underutilized publicly owned land to develop for affordable or workforce housing.
4. Create a development liaison to help expedite the planning approval timeline and process. 
5. Expedite infrastructure to the expansion area. Based on past experiences, it will take five to seven years for homebuilding to begin in the expansion area.

​The 30by30 public awareness campaign includes digital, social and traditional media, including this video.  To learn more, sign up to join the 30by30 Campaign at www.lexingtonforeveryone.com.