Team Better Block was awarded today a $155,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to pursue a project in Akron, Ohio. The funds will be used to convert excess housing stock in the city into boutique hostels and cultural hubs utilizing the Airbnb platform.
Through multiple visits and conversations with Akron city leaders and residents, we identified the need for increased hotel options near the downtown area. At the same time, the City of Akron, Ohio is faced with population declines, excessive housing stock, and a lowered tax base to maintain existing infrastructure. This problem, combined with the lack of hotels near the city’s core, the opportunity arose to temporarily repurpose existing housing stock as Airbnb hostels or hotels to demonstrate to the community how their homes can be activated and returned to economic viability. By focusing on the North Hill neighborhood, where a Better Block project is currently in development, the growing Bhutanese refugee community (representing 70% of new immigration to the area) will be engaged when developing the concept. This will give the demonstration space a cultural point of reference while providing a shared cultural amenity on the grounds for the neighborhood. The AirBnB concept will operate for 18 months, and provide a detailed prototype that residents can engage with and learn how to convert other homes in the area into shared economic resources.
The Knight Cities Challenge is an annual $5 million call for ideas focusing on one or all of these three key drivers of city success: attracting and retaining talented people, expanding economic opportunity, and creating a culture of civic engagement. They awarded the grant to Team Better Block for meeting these three criteria in an innovative way.
The Better Block team is celebrating the award with a party on March 31st from 5 to 9 p.m. at their new office location: 323 W Jefferson Blvd., #203, Dallas, TX 75208.
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