MUSKOGEE, Okla. — The City of Muskogee is getting dozens of new homes which Mayor Marlon Coleman says will help fill a critical need in the community.
“We have a terrible, terrible need for housing right now,” Coleman said.
He says the Walnut Creek subdivision on South Country Club Road is the first market-rate subdivision built in the city in 30 years.
“That’s how long it’s been,” Coleman said. “You can imagine because of that our housing stock is so limited.”
Developers are putting up 40 new homes right now. They’ll add an additional 80 if all goes well.
“That’s going to help a lot,” Coleman said. “That’s going to close a big gap.”
Some neighbors say they’ve seen the need for housing in the city.
“Thankfully I”m not in the housing market,” said Susan Wiebe. “I’ve lived here forever, but I do have lots of friends that are trying to find houses and they’re having a lot of trouble.”
Coleman says over the next three years, they have $4 billion in infrastructure and job investments coming to Muskogee. They’re expecting more employees will need a place to live.
Coleman says they need to build about 300 new homes a year. On average, they build three to five.
“It’s not enough,” he said. “We can’t keep up. We’ll never be able to complete the footprint of live, work, and play unless we provide places for people to live.”
The city is offering $1.5 million in incentives for developers.
“Hopefully developers will see what we can do in Muskogee,” Coleman said. “It’s got so much potential, and they’ll look at what we’re doing and say hey I want to build in Muskogee.”
The big fire at Greenleaf Apartments really highlighted the need for more housing. They had to find new homes for nearly 90 people. They were able to house everyone, but most of them moved out of city limits into the county.
Trending Stories:
- Correctional officer dead after inmate attack
- DOWNLOAD the 2 News Oklahoma app for alerts
- Well-known pastor retires and starts new journey with development center
- FOLLOW 2 News Oklahoma on Facebook
- One teen dead, one hospitalized after drive-by shooting on BA Expressway
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
