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o Acquisition of blighted property on Washington Street, relocation of businesses and residents, <br />and demolition of buildings for redevelopment of assembled sites in accordance with the <br />Development Plan. Funding for this project is expected to be approved as part of a Section 108 <br />Loan request which is still pending with the Department of Housing and Urban Development <br />(HUD). <br />The recommended time table for implementing the Washington Street Redevelopment project <br />will begin immediately upon notification of HUD approval of the City's Section 108 loan <br />application. <br />^ Property acquisition appraisals, negotiation with property owners, closing on <br />property acquisition, relocation of existing businesses and households, and <br />demolition of buildings and site preparation will require 9 to 12 months to <br />complete. This time frame could be extended if acquisition cannot be <br />concluded without full use of the City's eminent domain powers. <br />• Efforts by the City, WWCRP and SBHF to finalize feasibility, studies and to <br />prepare design plans for new housing should be concluded during the same 9 <br />to 12 month period as land assembly and site preparation. Conveyance of <br />acquired property for the start of construction on new housing should be <br />scheduled no later than the completion of site preparation. Construction of the <br />new housing (depending on phasing) should require 9 to 12 months. <br />The objective of the recommended time table is to have new housing available for initial <br />occupancy within 18 months following approval of the Section 108 Loan Application. <br />o Projects which may be funded as part of the City's Community Development Block Grant <br />(CDBG) program. These include all of the programs currently administered by the City, <br />including residential rehabilitation site improvements, etc. Because CDBG funds are <br />subject to annual appropriation, decisions on projects to be implemented are made on a <br />one- year-at-a-time basis. WWCRP should work with the City to insure that progress <br />continues to be made each year toward rehabilitation of buildings and the elimination of <br />vacant, seriously deteriorated buildings. <br />o To the extent that the City's general purpose revenues and staff resources will permit, an <br />expanded program of crime prevention should be implemented. To be successful, the <br />crime prevention program must be developed on a cooperative basis with the active <br />involvement and support of the City's Police Department, all citizen-based organizations, <br />and residents of the neighborhood. <br />Successful completion of the Washington Street redevelopment project will have a major <br />beneficial impact on the neighborhood. New housing should result in a major increase in real <br />estate values that should, in turn, begin to provide the City with incremental real estate tax <br />revenue. <br />The existing assessed value of property within the Washington Street area is $99,520. <br />Construction of 40 residential units and the construction or rehabilitation of approximately <br />20,000 square feet of commercial building space will result in an increase in assessed value <br />estimated at $800,000. At the current tax rate for the area, the increase in assessed value would <br />result in an annual increase in property tax revenue estimated at $ 108,000. The incremental tax <br />30 <br />