Breaking News
Top Headlines

Housing Demand Builds in Wheeling

By NORA EDINGER 6 min read

WHEELING - There are 41,447 people in Ohio County. Divide that number by 13,840 single-family homes and 2,468 multi-family dwellings - not counting the variables of condos and co-ops. How many new residential units should entrepreneurs build or re-build in the downtown?

If only it were that story-problem "easy." The truth is, no one knows exactly how long the rapid residential re-do that is well underway in Wheeling's core will last — or should last.

There are a few people, however, who can make some pretty good guesses based on long-term national trends and what's happening on the ground in Wheeling today and in the recent past. Those include a representative of the county Assessor's Office, the founder of Woda Cooper Companies, Inc., a real estate agent and a business expert from West Virginia University.

No one interviewed was concerned that overbuilding is imminent.

THE ASSESSOR

It would seem a good place to start answering the question of the day is to look at what housing is already here in order to get a sense of need. Yet, just tracking how many residential units are in the county as a whole is a bit like nailing Jello to the wall, acknowledged Rick Hyett, commercial real estate appraiser for the Ohio County Assessor's Office.

He and another appraiser for that office calculated the Ohio County residential count - with the population figures coming from the U.S. Census. But Hyett noted that, each summer, assessors literally take to the road to look for previously unknown houses that might be tucked into the woods and to count the number of air conditioning units at various multi-unit developments in order to keep the tally straight.

"Unless it's in the city, they don't even have to tell us," Hyett explained of builders self-reporting developments that can range from a single-family home to a full-on apartment complex.

That vagary noted, Hyett said he can safely say the downtown count that was captured in July 2022 assessment reflected a neighborhood already bustling with new apartment creation. And,

that it's a count that is headed upward as there are a number of pending apartment developments - including the Doris on Main near the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, more than 100 units coming to shape inside the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Building and a handful of projects in South Wheeling.

THE DEVELOPER

Woda Cooper Companies, Inc. is the developer and property manager behind many of these recent and pending projects. The Columbus company's investment in Wheeling's residential sector ranges from the redeveloped Boury and Stone loft apartments to the new-construction apartments in the Doris on Main.

Woda Cooper has additionally built senior housing - all of the complexes using the word "Greene" in their name - around the city. It is also behind a swath of similarly named, reduced-rent housing that is continuing to go up in South Wheeling - on 29th, 38th and 42nd streets.

Jeffrey Woda, company founder and chief visionary officer, said in an email interview that he has come to consider Wheeling the gold standard for how a city addresses housing needs.

"As a company, we've been very impressed by Wheeling's vision of economic development and the priorities it has set for itself for growth to better the lives of the city's residents," said Woda, a Powhatan Point native and Bethany College graduate who considers the Wheeling area his home base.

He went on to say that Wheeling's leaders - who regularly employ various tax credits and incentives for such projects - realized early on that housing is a part of economic development.

"The Wheeling housing market is ideal for all housing types ... affordable workforce housing, senior housing and market-rate housing," Woda said.

The company has engaged in all of the above. Yet, with hundreds of units already in play and more on the way, he said demand continues to outpace supply. "We've seen that many of our new Wheeling apartment communities - especially workforce housing - have leased up almost as soon as it is possible to show units," Woda said.

THE REALTOR

That kind of occupancy speed is not a surprise to Missy Ashmore of Kennen & Kennen Realtors of Wheeling. "I'm not concerned about them overbuilding ... Wheeling is musical chairs," Ashmore said. "We don't have enough inventory."

Some examples? Ashmore said certain hot properties - such as condominiums or single-story brick ranches with an attached garage and a price of about $200,000 - are so popular with older Ohio County residents wanting to downsize that they sell within a day or two, regardless of neighborhood.

Similarly, young families sometimes wait in virtual line for large Woodsdale homes, she said. Ashmore noted that the lure of walking children to school and hanging out on a front porch continues to surpass the reality of century-old properties.

Some ongoing problems? The majority of Wheeling housing is historic and there is a lack of contractors to maintain it, Ashmore noted. Also, she said, the current downtown development is mostly apartments and that isn't what long-term residents - particularly seniors - want.

That means a market is being missed. Ashmore said pizza entrepreneur Toni DiCarlo's plan to turn a vacant lot on Main Street into luxury condominiums that buyers can finish to their own specifications is brilliant.

"Everyone would love to have a river view," she said.

She offered a wish list for future development that would appeal to a spectrum of long-term Wheelingites: More condos rather than apartments, two bedrooms, a pricetag between $75,000 and $150,000, a bit of green space that would allow a dog and a handy place to park.

Unless such stuff becomes available, she expects to see at least entry-level homeowners jump on fresh neighborhoods. She noted East Wheeling - which recently topped the $100,000 price point - is becoming especially popular with young buyers who want a walkable community.

Whatever its present limitations, Ashmore said all the buying and building is practically making the downtown streets buzz with something more than paving and cranes.

"I'm really excited and optimistic about downtown," she said. "The people (naysayers) on Facebook don't know what they're talking about."

THE TREND TRACKER

John Deskins, director for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University, noted that what is happening to Wheeling's housing market appears to be on point.

"This is certainly a national trend and has been a national trend for a long time," Deskins said, speaking specifically of the residential redevelopment of unused industrial and office properties. "I absolutely understand why entrepreneurs in Wheeling would be willing to go that route."

In terms of what the sweet spot for quantity of downtown housing is moving forward, however, he said it is impossible to tell.

"Trends come to an end. There's always risk involved. That is the nature of entrepreneurism," Deskins noted. But, he qualified that statement. "Entrepreneurs are supposed to take risks. That's how we find new paths and develop new ways of building the economy."

Starting at /week.