Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation will begin construction in March on three affordable single-family homes, according to GRDC executive director Tom Goddeeris. The homes will be 3-bedroom and 2-½ bath, feature full basements and attached garages and will sell for $138,000 to buyers with incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income. Down payment assistance is also available to eligible buyers.
Goddeeris explains that, with the construction of these homes, GRDC is "introducing affordable housing into a neighborhood that might otherwise seem unaffordable to the lower income homebuyer."
The homes are being built on Stahelin Street in North Rosedale Park as part of a targeted effort by GRDC to improve the area around T. Dale Cooke Elementary School. The organization is also offering home repair matching grants to existing residents in the vicinity of the school.
Goddeeris explains the strategy. "While this area is right in the heart of North Rosedale, [the houses] sort of have a different character. They were built at a later time and are smaller. Consequently, they suffered more decline. There is a higher percentage of vacant homes, a higher percentage of rental properties as opposed to homeowners and some problems with absetee landowners. We are try to being them up to the quality of the rest of the community."
The home repair matching grant funds are being funded by a $40,000 grant from LISC that Goddeeris is hopeful will be matched by a Federal Home Loan Bank grant from Fifth Third Bank. The city of Detroit has also provided home repair funds so, all together, Goddeeris hopes to improve 14 homes in the target area. "By concentrating the grant in one area, we will increase the impact of each individual grant," he says.
For more information about the new homes or the home repair grants, call GRDC at 313.835.8190.
Source: Tom Goddeeris, GRDC
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