The university sold several plots of land to Project Neighbors at a steep discount to help provide the area with permanently affordable housing.
Valparaiso University has given up some of its land for a good cause. The university sold, at a steep discount, several plots of land on Locust Street to the Project Neighbors affordable housing organization. Project Neighbors aims to develop the land into parcels with four duplexes on each one to provide area families with housing that will be stable and permanently affordable.
According to an article on Valparaiso University’s website, Carmen Vincent, a 2020 Valparaiso University graduate and the executive director of Project Neighbors, was quoted as saying of the affordable housing project and the organizations’ connection to the university, “Our intention is to develop permanently affordable housing—specifically, four duplexes—on these parcels to serve families who are often priced out of the current market. With land costs at just $15,000 per unit, this project becomes financially feasible in a way that few developments are.” Vincent added, “Many of our board members are Valparaiso University alumni and professors. For this specific initiative, we’re excited to once again connect with campus leaders on how the University can support community-based solutions to housing insecurity.”
Project Neighbors began in 1969 as the Valpo Builders Association. It was a collaboration between the university and the community, along with Walt Reiner. In the years since its founding, the project has constructed or renovated more than 100 properties and has dedicated a combined 100,000 volunteer hours to make it all possible.
Valparaiso University sold the land on Locust Street to Project Neighbors for only $120,000, helping the project fulfill its mission by offering the land at a deeply reduced rate to make way for affordable housing duplexes.
Mark Volpatti Ed.D., CPA, who serves as the senior vice president for finance and administration at Valparaiso University, said, “The University respects the mission of Project Neighbors and was excited to be able to provide property that it was not using to move forward an initiative that supports affordable housing [in] the City.”
Vincent spoke about how her education at the university encouraged her to become involved in Project Neighbors. She said, “I was taught to wrestle with big questions and lean into service-driven work—values that align deeply with Project Neighbors’ mission. Being able to return as a community partner and collaborate with the university in a new capacity feels like a full-circle moment. It’s also a hopeful one: it shows what’s possible when institutions invest in their communities not just with words, but with tangible action.”
For more information about Valparaiso University, visit the school’s website.