COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Move to Prosper set out to provide access to safe, affordable rental housing while giving kids access to higher resource schools, they decided to team up with landlords in central Ohio.
Keith Jones, CEO of Oakwood Properties, is one of those landlords. Oakwood helped the organization develop the program.
“I think it’s just a great mission for apartment operators to be able to partner with a nonprofit to be able to make their communities better,” he said. While it’s been a few years since the program started, and the rental market has shifted, Jones indicated that, “we’ve actually seen an average savings of about $1,000 per unit per year and in just turnover cost.”
Although he said there is always a cost with operating apartments when someone moves, the program benefits the landlord, too. That’s because they’re able to keep a longterm resident, making the risk less. For the tenant, they’re able to live in an area they might not have otherwise been able to live in before.
