The BIA Celebrates 80 Years

• Average Cost of a New Home (nationally)

1943: $3,600 | 2023: $446,000

• Average Monthly Rent (nationally) economic growth. However, this growth is not possible without our industry.

1943: $40/month 2023: $1,180 In doing my research on 1943 facts I came across something that really hit home. In that year, the Pentagon opened outside of Washington, D.C. It accommodated, upon its opening, more than 40,000 employees, 10,000 cars and used 435,000 cubic yards of reinforced concrete. The most amazing thing, it was built in 16 months.

Think about that. Sixteen months to build and ready for occupancy, a seven floor structure, including two stories underground, that spans 28.7 acres at a cost equivalent to $1.19 billion in 2023 dollars (or $18.81 billion less than the two initial Intel facilities).

I will say it again: The fate of our region’s success rests upon our industry’s ability to meet the great housing demand that exists today and will certainly exist tomorrow.

This is why, 80 years later, the BIA of Central Ohio exists. We exist to help connect builders and developers to the great associates we have in our market that help in each step of the development and construction process. We exist to facilitate the sharing of best practices and education of our members. We exist to help promote the importance and value of our members to the public. We exist to work tirelessly to help our members navigate the many hurdles at every level of government that limit housing creation.

This year, the BIA is celebrating its 80th year of serving the residential construction industry. For this issue of the Building Insider I thought it might be interesting to compare how things looked in 1943 when our industry forefathers established the Homebuilders Association of Columbus and today.

• Approximate Population of the City Columbus 1943: 306,600 | 2023: 906,500

• Approximate Population of Ohio 1943: 6,868,000 | 2023: 11,878,330

All of this reinforced a key part of what our organization’s mission is, which is to work with local governments to allow our members to meet the demand that exists in central Ohio. Simply put, if our country can build the Pentagon in 16 months and that building can be standing today, even after having a plane crashed into it, then we should be able to develop a site and build a few houses in a similar fashion.

A recent update by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) says that our region can expect to grow to 3.15 million people by 2050 (approximately 80 people moving here 365 days a year for the next 25 years). That’s about 10x the population of the City of Columbus in 1943. This growth is a good thing, as it shows a broader expansion of

We exist so that hopefully, one day, we can build something in less time than it took to build the Pentagon.

Ultimately, we exist because leaders of the central Ohio homebuilding community got together and thought that it would be a good idea to form an organization that represented our industry. Thousands of hours have been volunteered by individuals in support of this organization and industry. We would not exist without their contributions and are grateful for those seen and unseen.

My challenge to you: What can you contribute to our organization to make sure it as vibrant and vital for the next generation of industry professionals and leaders?