Working under the general auspices of improving the quality of housing in New Albany, the S. Ellen Jones Neighborhoood Association's meeting on Tuesday will focus on homeownership, examining the role that ownership of both properties and issues plays in community redevelopment.
The first few homes at New Albany Community Housing's Linden Meadows, an ingenius affordable housing development created by moving historic homes slated for demolition to a new location, recently hit the market and NAHC's director, John Miller, will be on hand to discuss the transition from renting to home purchase.
As revitalization continues, affordable housing will be an increasingly important topic to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate in the improvement process and the diversity of our urban neighborhoods is preserved.
S. Ellen Jones Homeownership Meeting
Tuesday, September 19th
6:30 p.m.
S. Ellen Jones Elementary cafeteria
600 E. 11th Street
For a sneak peek, SEJ is also hosting a cookout this afternoon (apologies for the short notice) at the school from 11:30 to 1:00. Hot dogs, burgers, and drinks will be provided. Please bring a dish, chips or dessert to share.
S. Ellen Jones Forum
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4 comments:
Isn't New Albany by definition an affordable housing market? How can we have abandoned houses all over town and need an affordable housing project? I'm perhaps needing education as I'm coming from the east coast where there really isn't anything like affordable housing. I'm constantly sratching my head here, surrounded by good old homes going into the dumper. This is not to say I don't support the Linden Meadows project.
Hello Gina - the CHDO homes meet an extremely high quality standard. The abandoned homes you reference probably do not. Purchasing an abandoned home certainly would have strings attached - many upgrades would likely be needed. Upgrades that many low income buyers would not be able to afford.
A program like CHDO helps to break a rental cycle we all know to well in New Albany. These are first time home buyers. Via CHDO, they get a quality home that should not be an immediate financial burden to them.
Buyers also recieve downpayment assistance as well as valuable training during the qualification process.
New Albany does need affordable housing. These same home buyers could be the folks that buy that abandoned home a few years down the road. Starting a cycle of homeownership would be a good thing for New Albay.
My personal opinion is that New Albany also needs a comprehensive housing strategy to address the many housing quality issues we face. We seem to lack a road map to move us towards solutions.
Regardless, I am sure that CHDO is part of a solution and is needed.
Tedf - thanks for a fine reply and I do see how important it is to break the rental cycle and how programs like CHDO help immensely. I only wish the two seemingly separate goals of breaking the rental cycle and rehabilitating our historic properties could somehow magically solve each other.
A fine reply, indeed, Ted. I think there is an opportunity for CHDO's affordable housing efforts and historic rehab to work well in conjunction with other.
CHDO can do rehab as well as new construction and has expressed an interest in doing so. One of the barriers for private investment in older neighborhoods is that it costs more to rehab a property then what the post-rehab property would be worth on the open market. As a housing subsidy operation, CHDO, by definition, is set up to take that financial hit.
One of the other barriers to historic rehab is the old real estate addage- location, location, location. Potential rehab properties are often sitting in the middle of a group of other delapidated homes, lessening their value. If a private investor knew, though, that CHDO was going to rehab several homes surrounding a particular property, the risk of taking on that property as a private rehab project would be lessened.
A collaborative, public/private partnership could take on a whole block that way, rehabbing and creating subsidized and non-subsidized homes that the average person would have difficulty distinguishing from one another.
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