Construction begins, creation of new neighborhood in Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Construction of brand new houses and the creation of a new neighborhood is underway on Youngstown’s South Side, a rare development for the city.

Off Glenwood Avenue on Bernard Street across from Volney Roger’s Field, a new house is being built. Eventually, there will be six more. Each house will be 16 hundred square feet.

The plan to build new houses on Bernard Street was a joint effort of Youngstown City Councilman Julius Oliver and Ian Beniston of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

“There’s only been about 20 new single-family homes built in the city of Youngstown over the past 15-year period or so,” said Beniston.

“This is a transformational thing. Like Ian said, an example of what you can do with one block,” said Oliver.

“It’s going to be a three-bedroom, two full bath, first-floor laundry. It has a basement. It’s not finished but it’s waterproof. There is an attached garage in the back,” said Beniston.

The footers are in place for two other houses. Building all six will cost around $1.5 million — a combination of grants and American Rescue Plan money. They plan to sell them for between $150,000 and $250,000.

This was the first time Oliver had been inside.

“Being able to walk through and touch it and know a family is going to be here, you know, starting brand new,” said Oliver.

“A really unique street. I don’t think there’s anything like in it the city,” said Beniston.

Opposite where the houses will go is a rock outcropping similar to what you’d see in Mill Creek Park which is within walking distance.

“When the leaves are down, you can actually see downtown, you can see the stadium, the whole North Side,” said Beniston.

Some sections of the sidewalk have been marked and will be replaced. There are also plans to repave Bernard and change its name to Cliff Street which is what it used to be called.

Oliver hopes to see similar housing projects like these built throughout the city. In fact, he already has one planned for Valley Street on the East Side.

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