Bringing more housing to Knox may require some financial outlay from the city. Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council last week that he’s been in contact with a developer out of Indianapolis. But before anyone would be willing to invest, they’d want to see a market survey.
“Every big developer will want a market survey done, on either the community or the whole county, to see what’s there, what we need,” Estok explained. “And that survey would cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, depending how big we want to go.”
Estok noted that there are tax credits available through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, as well as other incentives. He added that housing was a big part of Constellation of Starke’s regional planning efforts.
“It takes everything for communities to grow, and housing is one of them,” the mayor said. “And look what’s happening now. Every contractor that’s putting a house up is about sold before it’s even up. And would that trend continue? It could very well continue for a while.”
As a next step, Estok offered to schedule a work session between the developer and the council, to allow them to learn more about some of the programs available.
