Digging

Work got underway around 8 this morning on the first two new houses on E. Saint Catherine Street. Had to ask a few people to move their vehicles to allow the dump truck access onto the site, and everybody was very cooperative. Its exciting to finally see some construction work happening! Rich from Asher Engineering was there overseeing the work. Took a couple pics before my iPhone died...By lunch Tawana Hughes, our GC, called and confirmed she was finished with the digging aspect of the work.

MSD arrives monday to begin work on installing the sewer taps for 532 & 530 E. Saint Catherine Street.

Construction

Tawana Hughes Builder, LLC will be building these fine house along E. Saint Catherine Street. She has been great to work with thus far, and we all look forward to this being a successful redevelopment project. Barring anything unforeseen, the construction contract will be signed tomorrow.

Update!

A lot has happened since the last post. The construction was put out to bid again. The design styles of the houses were modified, and we included much more detail in the construction plans & specs. Hopefully this will give us more complete bids when they come back. Now we wait until the 27^th.We also closed on our first property today (538 E. Saint Catherine Street). The house had sat vacant for about a year, after a fire that spread from the house next door ruined it. It was finally demolished in May. No property title issues from the onset, and the owner was easy to work with from the very beginning.We still have to close on 536,530, & 526 E. Saint Catherine Street.536 E. Saint Catherine is slated to be demolished by Codes & Regs sometime in the near future. As you can tell by the photos, this house is blighted beyond rehabilitation, and simply needs to come down. Total Eyesore.530 E. Saint Catherine Street was a 50 x 234 ft lot. Most, if not all of the lots on the block are 25’ lots, so it made sense to try and have the lot divided, so that we can create 2 lots, and build a house on each lot. The minor plat approval process took about six weeks from start to finish. We'll need to purchase MSD sewer taps for both lots. MSD will handle the bidding, and I was told we should have a price sometime next week.The next immediate challenge we have is getting the remaining houses that are under contract to closing. Never underestimate the challenges of finding vacant properties without title problems. Reclaiming vacant properties is not an easy task, especially when you uncover messy titles.

500 block of E. Saint Catherine Street

New Directions Housing Corporation (NDHC) plans to redevelop vacant residential lots along the 500 block of East Saint Catherine Street in Shelby Park. This infill project will be funded using Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds. NDHC plans to acquire vacant properties and build high-quality and affordable single-family homes. Each new home will also be a Energy Star Qualified New Home, and will be furnished with all Energy Star labeled appliances. Each homebuyer will be required to receive eight hours of homeownership training through a HUD-Approved counseling agency. As homes are sold, the proceeds generated will go towards developing more vacant properties in and around Shelby Park.

Links:

Block/Street Photos

Bing Maps Aerial View

Shelby Park Neighborhood Map

Louisville Metro Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

Today NDHC signed a Developer Agreement with Louisville Metro.

Progress...

They key word today is progress. Last Friday, NDHC put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a General Contractor, and the response has been solid. Yesterday was the construction Pre -Bid meeting. We held the pre-bid meeting in our brand new Idea Center at Jackson Woods Apartments. The response from interested contractors/builders has been solid, and overall things are moving in the right direction. Tony Kleyer, an architect with Louis & Henry Group, will be assisting New Directions in this project.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding is intended to stabilize neighborhoods. To do this, State and local governments can: Buy abandoned or foreclosed homes; Redevelop demolished or vacant properties; Demolish or rehabilitate abandoned, foreclosed or blighted properties; Offer down payment and closing cost assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers; reuse properties for affordable rental housing. In addition, these grantees can also create land banks. The Louisville Metro Neighborhood Stabilization Program will allocate approximately $2-4 million toward the acquisition and redevolopment of vacant properties to be sold for private homeownership or leased to low-income households. Louisville Metro selected River City Housing, Rebound Inc, and New Directions Housing (NDHC) to redevelop vacant properties to be sold for homeownership in the target areas. New Directions Housing Corporation has chosen to acquire and redevelop vacant residential properties in the Shelby Park Neighborhood. Vacant properties acquired and improved using NSP funding will proceed expeditiously to construction. Anyone interested in the purchase of an NSP-assisted home, must receive at least 8 hours of HUD-approved housing counseling. Properties can be sold to families that earn up to 120% Area Median Income ($74,150 for a family of four in Louisville).