Core City Program

The Core City program focuses on the rehabilitation of previously vacant single-family homes in Toledo's downtown neighborhoods to:

Address blight
Increase homeownership, especially among families of color
Increase property values and narrow the appraisal gap

The result? More Toledo families enjoy safe, stable housing and reap the wealth-building benefits of homeownership. The whole neighborhood benefits from increased property values and less blight. And the whole city benefits from strong core neighborhoods.

Core City home prior to renovation (photo courtesy Lucas County Land Bank).

Core City home sold in September 2020 (photo courtesy Lucas County Land Bank).

Core City home sold in June 2021.

Core City home sold in May 2021

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Together with our partners, we have:

Invested over $1.4 million in the Core City Program
Renovated and sold 29 homes to owner-occupants, with 13 more in the pipeline and more being added all the time.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of the new homeowners are families of color and the average annual household income of buyers is $40,400.

Partner Highlight

The Owens Corning Foundation’s LISC commitment also supports Core City Rehabilitation projects, in which LISC collaborates with neighborhood partners to identify, acquire, and renovate homes throughout the downtown Toledo area. The homes are then sold to owner-occupants, which helps increase property values and stability in these communities.

Of the homeworners who are supported by this program:

70%

are Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC)

57%

identify as female

$41,000

average yearly income

In addition, our commitment will fund efforts to grow the capacity of small contracting businesses owned by members of underrepresented groups and woman-owned contracting businesses, as well as invest in civic and community engagement projects. In 2021, work began on three Core City homes. One was completed in late December and is now on the market. The other two homes will be completed in the first quarter of 2022. The population of homeowners who benefit from the Core City effort project are 70% BIPOC, 57% female head of household, and have an average income of $41,000 per year.

The Core City program is made possible with generous funding from Key Bank, Owens Corning, and ProMedica, as well as the work of our partners at Historic South Initiative, Lucas County Land Bank, Lucas Housing Services Corporation, and NeighborWorks Toledo Region.