[Durham INC] Council Mulls Possible Grant for DHA Project

[John Martin]

Hi Will,
It is not correct to say that "the run-down housing is. . .rented by someone else,"   East of Roxboro St., we are plagued by houses that are boarded-up and rented to no one.

One such house is 1010 Worth St.  It has been owned by the DHA for five years, it is currently boarded-up and used intermittently by vagrants, drug addicts, prostitutes, and alcoholics.  Everyone other house on the block is owner-occupied.  The Golden Belt Neighborhood has been repeatedly told by DHA that they will restore the house and sell it to an owner-occupant when the funding is available. 
I believe that 1010 Worth St. can and should be restored and sold, and the City should make this a condition of DHA receiving funds to build new houses.  
John

--- On Fri, 10/7/11, Will Wilson <willwilsn at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Will Wilson <willwilsn at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Council Mulls Possible Grant for DHA Project
To: Darius.M.Little at alumni.unc.edu
Cc: "John Martin" <bulldurhamnc at yahoo.com>, inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org, Golden-Belt at googlegroups.com, oldeastdurham at googlegroups.com, pac1 at yahoogroups.com, inc-list at durhaminc.org
Date: Friday, October 7, 2011, 1:17 PM

Darius,

Nice points that I pretty much sympathize with...but I've always seen 
problems with the thread. Maybe you have ideas about the problems.

The run-down housing is owned by someone and rented by someone else. 
Should we put public funds in either hands to fix up the houses? Whoever 
spends the money, the tenant has a better house, yes, but the owner just 
got a renovation paid for by tax dollars because they let the house get 
run down. Presumably the owner could now sell the more valuable property.

There needs to be a way to get the public's money back out of that 
investment (perhaps a lien), and since the house got run-down in the 
first place, how are we assured that the public's investment will be 
protected over the long term? What have we gained if we go in and 
improve those rental properties just to have them get run-down again two 
years later?

The Habitat for Humanity model seems ideal to buy the run-down houses, 
find new owners that put their sweat-equity into the homes... I guess it 
takes several "affordable housing" approaches.

Thanks,
Will

On 10/7/2011 10:56 AM, Darius Mercedes Little wrote:
> My thoughts:  how about renovating/upgrading existing properties
> which are an embarrassment to the city, rather than "building new
> rentals."
>
> We've constantly heard of the value of neighborhood  preservation,
> yet it seems we're building anew at every opportunity possible.
>
> "Affordable Housing" has become the new fad in Durham - and everyone
> is benefiting from it except individuals who are actually, almost
> homeless, or will never be a candidate for home ownership in their
> current circumstance.
>
> These organizations should strongly consider engaging in acts which
> directly address our growing disparities of homelessness and home
> ownership.  This would entail: increasing the restoration of
> already-existing properties which could be used for rentals, in
> coalition with other City/County supported entities which will help
> the residents develop saving habits that will lead to home ownership;
> not having this continuous cycle of lifetime renters.
>
> I don't support anything that doesn't fix-up some of the dilapidated
> properties already in existence in Northeast Central Durham.
>
> - Darius Little
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------
>
> Darius M. Little Executive Business Consultant  and Strategic
> Marketing Analyst
>
> (web) www.linkedin.com/in/dariuslittle
>
> Manta Business Profile/Report:
> http://www.manta.com/c/mtlwj1m/little-s-business-consulting
>
> -----Original Message----- From: John Martin<bulldurhamnc at yahoo.com>
> Sender: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 07:45:38
> To:<Golden-Belt at googlegroups.com>;<oldeastdurham at googlegroups.com>;<pac1 at yahoogroups.com>;<inc-list at durhaminc.org>
>
>
Subject: [Durham INC] Council Mulls Possible Grant for DHA Project
>
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