A Letter Troy Should't Ignore
Vol. III, No. 296 - The Miami Metropolitian Housing Authority wants to look at abandoned schools for senior housing
A letter arrived at Troy City Hall on March 9th. It wasn’t a complaint, a demand, or a protest. It was an offer — a serious one — from the Miami Metropolitan Housing Authority (MMHA). Executive Director Andria Beach wrote to Mayor Robin Oda, copying every member of Troy City Council, the Director of Public Service and Safety, the Development Director, and Troy City Schools Superintendent Chris Piper. The subject: two school properties — Heywood and Kyle — that the city is set to acquire, and what could be done with them.
Beach’s message was clear. MMHA wants to turn those buildings into accessible, one-bedroom housing units for seniors. And she came prepared — not just with interest, but with financing tools, an architectural partner experienced in this type of conversion, and a compelling case rooted in documented need.
That letter didn’t land in a vacuum. It arrived in the middle of a $154 million Troy City Schools construction project that will demolish both Kyle and Van Cleve Schools, clear the sites, and convey the shovel-ready land to the city’s Community Improvement Corporation. What gets built on those parcels — or doesn’t — will define those neighborhoods for a generation. Residents should be paying attention right now, not after the decisions have already been made.
The Need Is Real
Here’s the number that should stop you: at one MMHA site alone, the waitlist for accessible one-bedroom senior units was more than ten years long. That’s not a housing gap. That’s a senior housing crisis that has been quietly building while other priorities dominated public conversations.
The demographic picture in Troy makes this worse, not better. According to the city’s own Comprehensive Plan — adopted in October 2024 — Troy’s median age rose from 38.0 in 2010 to 40.4 in 2020, a trend that mirrors what’s happening across Miami County and the state. The plan’s own language acknowledges the shift: “the data illustrates that most communities are experiencing an increase in their senior population.” That’s the Comprehensive Plan talking. The same plan that, in the next breath, pivots almost entirely to micro-units for young professionals and new subdivisions for move-up buyers.
Seniors? They’re mentioned. Prioritized? Not really.
What the City’s Plan Gets Right — and Gets Wrong
To be fair, Troy’s Comprehensive Plan does identify retirement communities and nursing homes as permitted uses within the city’s Multi-Unit Residential character class. That’s a policy opening, and it matters. It means the still-being-built zoning framework is already contemplating some senior living in multi-unit settings — exactly what MMHA is proposing.
But a simple mention of a permitted use is not exactly a well-thought out plan. The housing action items in the Comprehensive Plan are focused on workforce housing downtown and new residential development on the city’s western edge. The 5,419-unit unmet housing demand identified in the plan is never broken down by age group. There is no senior housing target, no dedicated funding strategy, no specific site identified. The city’s own data pointed directly at a growing aging population, and the response was to note it and move on.
That gap matters now because decisions about the Kyle and Heywood sites won’t be guided by a clear policy mandate in the Comprehensive Plan. These important decisions will be guided by whoever shows up, makes the case, and applies the pressure. MMHA has shown up.
What Needs to Happen Next
This conversation is too important to leave to staff discretion and noon-hour CIC deliberations. A few things should happen — and soon:
The Mayor and Council should formally respond to the MMHA letter. A letter copied to nine council members and two senior city officials deserves more than a passing mention at a council meeting. Staff should be directed to engage MMHA and report back publicly.
Site walks should be scheduled immediately. MMHA asked to bring their architect to evaluate feasibility. That’s a low-cost, no-commitment step that produces real information. There’s no reason to delay it.
The city needs current senior housing demand data. Before any site is committed to any use, Troy should have a clear picture of the gap between what seniors need and what currently exists. The City’s Comprehensive Plan adds some context and combined with the MMHA”s ten-year waitlist, there are strong signals that need addressed, but there has not been a full analysis.
Residents in those neighborhoods deserve a voice before decisions are finalized. These are established residential areas. Community input isn’t a courtesy — it’s how decisions that are meant to last are built.
MMHA has the financing tools, the mission, and the initiative to make something real happen on these sites. The city has the land. Troy’s own Comprehensive Plan acknowledged the demographic trend and then largely looked the other way. This letter is an opportunity to correct that. Whether the city treats it that way is the question residents should be asking — out loud, and soon.
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