A house of a different color

Sometimes someone will e-mail me an "updated" photo of a building I have in my photo galleries, so I thought I'd start sharing them.

The photo on the left was taken by me on April 23, 2006. It's in my MainStrasse gallery, even though it's technically in the Mutter Gottes neighborhood. The photo on the right is the submitted update. (Click to enlarge.)



It looks great, doesn't it?

For privacy reasons, I have chosen not to reveal the homeowner's name, though she is certainly welcome to post any info about herself and the project here.

If any of you other readers have a similar structure-improvement project, please send them in and I'll show them off here!

Price Hill: 1215 Rutledge Avenue

Kevin Murray is rehabbing the apartments of this long-vacant, blighted building.

The building was purchased for $108,000 in May.

As recently as 2005, the four-family house was a hotbed of drug activity. The building was in disrepair and animals had made a home there. People used it as a toilet.

It was built in 1929.

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW (looking west)
GOOGLE AERIAL MAP (left of arrow)

Model Property Development seeking federal funds for fourteen-building rehab

Model Property Development has applied for Low Income Housing Tax Credits to rehabilitate 14 buildings in the West End and Avondale.

The federal tax credits, which are distributed in Ohio through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), are awarded each year for 10 years. The housing credit can be deducted from the building owner's federal taxable income.

Model plans to use the funds to rehabilitate up to 72 low-income units at 1722-1730 and 2016 Baymiller Street; 945 Findlay Street; 1921-1923 Freeman Avenue; 849 and 1018 York Street in the West End; and 808 Cleveland Avenue in Avondale.

The total project cost is $12.3 million.

On June 6, City Council passed a resolution supporting the application. Council support improves the project's score in the OHFA assessment system.

The OHFA is scheduled to announce the accepted applicants on August 1.

Price Hill Will receives housing funds

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) has awarded Price Hill Will a $500,000 grant for housing rehabilitation.

The grant will be used to improve up to 15 homes in the Incline District and Whittier Gardens sections of East Price Hill.

The homes to be rehabilitated have not been specified.

The rehabilitated homes will be affordable to households at or below 80 percent of the area median gross income.

Funding is supplied by HOME funds and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund and is administered by the OHFA through the Housing Development Assistance Program. This program provides financial assistance for the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing.

Rezoning allows Clifton Heights rehab to proceed

315 Warner St

City Council unanimously passed an ordinance allowing Kerry Ryan to rehab a three-family building at the corner of Warner and Victor streets.

The ordinance changed the zoning on the site from SF-2 Single Family to RMX Residential Mix. Because the building had been vacant since the property was rezoned in 2004, it could not be rehabilitated and used as a multi-family.

Some neighbors objected to the rezoning due to a lack of adequate parking and an abundance of multi-family housing in the area.

The CUF Neighborhood Association also expressed concerns over the "spot" zoning, how the practice could have negative future effects on the neighborhood, and how they felt shut out of the process.

The building has been vacant for four years and would likely have been torn down if the rezoning did not occur.

Ryan took his argument for the rehab directly to the Economic Development Committee (EDC). In a letter dated April 7, 2007, he wrote:

If these properties remain “SF-2” single family zoning, we fear they will be abandoned again because no one will want to rent or purchase a single family building of this size and configuration.

Now that the zoning has been changed, Ryan has entered the permitting process.

The top two units had already been rehabbed without a permit, and they have been approved for reoccupancy.

First floor permits have not yet been received.

NOTE: The Cincinnati Beacon published a series of articles on this back in March. The first in the series included a couple of photos of the interior:
The Cincinnati Beacon: The Matrix of Cincinnati Zoning Codes: Kerry Ryan’s Renovated House Meets Resistance from CHIA

Walnut Hills Preservation seeks tax credits for senior housing

Walnut Hills Redevelopment (WHR) has applied for federal tax credits to rehabilitate the Walnut Hills Apartments.

The federal tax credits, which are distributed in Ohio through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), are awarded each year for 10 years. The housing credit can be deducted from the owner's (in this case OTRCH) federal taxable income.

WHR plans to use the funds to rehab 197 low-income units at the complex at 849 Beecher Street.

The total project cost is $3.8 million.

On June 6, City Council passed a resolution supporting the application.

The OHFA is scheduled to announce the accepted applicants on August 1.

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW (looking south)
GOOGLE AERIAL MAP

Over-the-Rhine news, 1/29/07

Over-the-Rhine Housing Network is working on a rehab of 530 E Thirteenth St. In fact, they've been working on this for quite a while. The property is a two-family built around 1885. I'm not sure if this will be market-rate or rental housing.


Model Management should be starting soon on a total renovation of 1344 Vine St. I don't know how many units will result.


1518 Race St was supposed to be razed, but I'm not sure if it's down yet. The building was condemened and has been vacant since at least 2003. Bricks and boards (from windows) were falling off of the building and it was deemed a danger.