08-23-2007 City begins first wave of abandoned house demolition

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■ 46619 (west side)—22 properties— 19 percent ■ 46628 (northwest, west of Portage)—34 properties —29 percent In addition, there are two blocks—the 500 block of Cleveland Avenue and the 200 block of North Studebaker Street—where multiple demolitions are anticipated. While the demolition of derelict properties represents a tangible end to urban blight, most of the public comment about the abandoned and vacant housing strategy has focused on the $1 home initiative. In the first weeks after public announcement of the strategy, hundreds called the city or the nonprofits that will administer the program, seeking to be placed on the list of prospective homebuyers. Unlike previous federal programs, the city's $1 home initiative is open to buyers from all income levels. Prospective homeowners must agree to live in the house for at least five years and would need to prequalify for a mortgage to cover the renovation costs— initially estimated at a maximum of$75,000, but later acknowledged to be specific to each property(and perhaps as little as $40,000). Although there may be instances when homebuyers would have the skills to do the renovations themselves, the pace and extent of renovations required suggest that professional contractors will perform most of the $1 house renovations in order to complete the work within one year of the closing date. On Aug. 3, the city's Redevelopment Commission adopted contracts with three nonprofits to administer the $1 home program. The nonprofits—the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc., Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization and South Bend Heritage Foundation—are in the process of acquiring 15 total properties. They anticipate publicizing the specific properties as early as next month with credit-qualified raffles for each property as early as October to select the eventual $1 home buyers. For more information, contact the NNN at(574) 232-9182, the NNRO at (574) 235-9675 or South Bend Heritage Foundation at (574) 289-1066. Vacant and abandoned housing is a nationwide problem with such properties accounting for about 15 percent of the area of the typical large city, more than 12,000 acres on average, according the Brookings Institution. South Bend has 621 houses that are both vacant and abandoned, according to a May 2006 survey by the city's Department of Code Enforcement. They represent 28 percent of all vacant houses throughout the city. The city distinguishes between vacant properties —which have no code enforcement violations and up-to-date taxes—and abandoned properties. Vacant properties that don't have activity for three months are considered abandoned. This strategy's plan to end the abandonment of 445 houses would represent a reduction of 72 percent of the city's 621 abandoned houses. Of the overall figure of 2,183 vacant homes, it represents a reduction of 20.4 percent. The effort grew out of City Plan, the city's 20-year comprehensive plan based on resident input, and is one of five directives Luecke issued to staff in his 2007 State of the City address. - 30 -