DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) — M/I Homes’ plan to build a couple hundred single-family homes as part of a 230-acre Delaware development is moving forward.

Delaware’s planning commission recommended approval on March 5 for M/I’s development plan for parts of Subarea B within “Northwood,” a new neighborhood by Metro Development that will include more than 1,100 homes across 230.67 acres at the northwest corner of State Route 521 and the Byxbe Parkway roundabout.

The planning commission approved a subdivision plat in July to split Northwood into three separate properties given the development will be home to three subareas with different development teams, including M/I’s Subarea B.

During the March meeting, the planning commission approved three sections within Subarea B: section one with 53 single-family lots on 13.7 acres, section four with 32 lots on seven acres, and section five with 21 lots on 4.7 acres. In total, these three M/I sections will yield 106 homes once completed.

A rendering of M/I Homes’ sections one, four and five within Northwood’s Subarea B. (Courtesy Photo/City of Delaware)

“We’re really excited to be back in the city of Delaware, delivering more single-family homes and are excited to get this project underway,” said Max Block, a land acquisition lead at M/I, during the meeting.

M/I is likely to return to the planning commission for approval of other sections, as previous Northwood plans call for the homebuilder to construct 257 homes within Subarea B on a total of 124 acres.

Subarea B will include access from a planned extension of Byxbe Parkway, which is a separate construction project but is expected to be built concurrently. However, the Byxbe extension was the focus of pushback from some Delaware residents who spoke against Northwood during a December 2023 planning commission meeting.

One resident was Philip Taraska who argued then that State Route 521 is insufficient to support Northwood, and that an extension of Byxbe will “only add to the traffic congestion and make things worse.” Sylvia DiGuilio, a resident of the neighborhood to the west, also said the development would worsen traffic and likened it to “adding fuel to the fire.”

No residents submitted feedback or showed up in person to voice these concerns during the March meeting.

Metro Development’s other plans for Northwood call for Subarea A to contain up to 260 multi-family units in three-story walkup buildings on 22.9 acres. Subarea C would include up to 451 multi-family units in either single-story buildings or two-story townhomes across 83.4 acres.