Nuestra CDC Begins Purchase and Renovation of Foreclosed Homes in Roxbury:
Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties in Roxbury in order to preserve neighborhood character and create new opportunities for affordable home rental and ownership. On November 26, Nuestra CDC became the owner of 21 Dacia Street in Roxbury, a foreclosed and now-vacant three-family home in one of Boston’s hardest-hit areas for foreclosure. Located in the Howard-Dacia neighborhood of Roxbury, the home, one of as many as twelve that Nuestra CDC will purchase in the coming year, will be fully renovated and either sold to a first-time homebuyer or returned as affordable housing to the rental market. On Wednesday, November 26, Nuestra CDC became the official owners of the first of these properties. Several more purchases are planned for 2009. “This is a great opportunity for Nuestra to step in and save a neighborhood from blight,” noted Nuestra CDC Executive Director David Price. “By coming together as an organization and a community, we can have a lasting positive impact on the Howard-Dacia neighborhood.” Since early last year, Nuestra CDC has been working full-time with local homeowners to help them navigate the often daunting home mortgage system and prevent foreclosure. While continuing to work with homeowners to stave off foreclosure, however, Nuestra CDC is undertaking an ambitious new project: the purchase and renovation of foreclosed properties to be returned to the housing market for either rental or ownership. With this project, we will both mitigate the effects of foreclosure and continue pursuing Nuestra CDC’s long-term vision for revitalizing neighborhoods and communities. “It’s time we started looking for the positives that can come out of the foreclosure crisis,” said Price. Nuestra’s target area for these purchases lies along Blue Hill Avenue between Dudley Street in Roxbury and Grove Hall in North Dorchester and has been identified by the City of Boston as a foreclosure intervention target area (FIT). In the Howard-Dacia neighborhood alone, 75 families inhabiting 33 properties were forced out of their homes by foreclosure between January 2007 and August 2008. Currently, another 121 properties are now in the foreclosure process; this puts over 300 additional families at risk for displacement. The Howard-Dacia neighborhood is one in which Nuestra CDC is already invested, owning 26 units of affordable housing and operating a community-based learning center there. Nuestra has also built and sold 11 homes to moderate-income buyers in the Howard-Dacia area, none of which are threatened with foreclosure. Thus, Nuestra CDC is well-positioned to step up in these pressing times and preserve the character of this neighborhood. Foreclosed homes detract from the physical character of a neighborhood, lower the values of surrounding homes and foster increased crime; falling home prices breed continued foreclosures. “We’re moving quickly to secure these homes so that we can prevent neighborhoods from deteriorating and preserve affordable housing in these difficult financial times,” said Price. Local contractor Jonathan Kaye is Nuestra CDC's partner for the 21 Dacia renovation.
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