OEDC Board Updated on New Housing Projects

The Olney Economic Development Corp is trying to figure out how to lower the barrier to entry for developers wanting to build homes in Olney for the more than 700 workers who commute into town each day for work.

The board’s housing committee is discussing plans to develop an 11acre vacant lot on Highland Avenue, owned by Tower Extrusions President Mark McClelland, for up to 30 homes. Mr. McClelland and sonin- law Reed Miller have built several homes in Olney to try to close the housing gap for Tower’s workforce.

OEDC executive director Tom Parker told the board that Mr. Mc-Clelland and Mr. Miller hired an engineer to create a master plan for the Highland Avenue site, and recruited enough prospective buyers to cover the cost of the infrastructure for the rest of the development.

“They have already laid this out, taking the first acre and a half that’s right next to the water tower and doing a layout for housing in a cluster formation,” he said. “The numbers that have come back initially are that those first six or eight homes could pay for the infrastructure – you would have to sell six homes at a time before you could start work but at six homes you could pay for the infrastructure.

The OEDC board has had a couple of false starts with developers whose plans to build infill housing on cityowned lots was foiled by ancient, incorrect, lot lines and problems with permits. But the board also has succeeded in bringing builders Lance and Corey Groves of Groves PK to town to build at least 10 homes on infill lots. The Groves have nearly completed four homes on infill lots they purchased from private owners – two on West Oak Street and two on Avenue D and Howard. The brothers have cleared three more lots – again, purchased from private owners – on West Oak and Howard Streets.

The Groves collaborated with Terry Horton, co-founder of D.R. Horton, on a plan to build affordable housing in Olney. Mr. Horton has created a system for building homes faster and cheaper with light-grade steel produced in Weatherford, and fire- and mold-resistant laminated foam panels manufactured in Glen Rose, Texas.

The homes can be completed in about a month once the materials arrive on site, Lance Groves said.