Fed money fixes up Elgin homes
Wooden planks lie across the porch beams of 463 E. Chicago St. in Elgin where old, stained siding lines up with new energy efficient windows. A sign in the front yard reads “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”
Contractors are in the process of rehabbing this home and three others purchased with federal money by the city of Elgin. The homes had all been foreclosed on and were, aesthetically, some of the worst in their neighborhoods.
“When you see these homes now, they have made an absolute transformation,” said Ruth Ann Hall, budget and purchasing officer for Elgin and project coordinator for the rehabbed homes.
The house on Chicago Street is about six weeks away from completion. When it's done, it will have energy-efficient appliances, low-flow toilets and supreme insulation. It will qualify for an energy tax rebate.
The house and its next door neighbor, which is also being rehabbed, will go from being two of the worst on the block, to among the best-looking.
“This is a main street,” Hall said. “These really complete the block and will be a benefit for the neighborhood.”
The goal of the program was to take foreclosed homes, which severely lower property values for entire blocks, and turn them around. Fixing up the properties works to stabilize the neighborhood, hence the name for the federal grant initiative: Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).
Low- and middle-income families are eligible to purchase the homes, which were recently appraised and will be on the market in the coming months.
Prospective buyers must take four, two-hour classes offered in English and Spanish by Neighborhood Housing Services of the Fox Valley. The classes cover information about mortgages, budgeting and understanding loans.
Buyers must also commit to actually living in the home for a number of years instead of renting or selling quickly.
Carlos Rivera of Elgin-based Homework Construction Services, Inc., rehabbed a house at 162 Summit St. Like the Chicago Street homes, it was in bad shape, prompting Rivera to demolish everything but the studs.
“The only thing left here is the original structure,” Rivera said.
The Summit Street home is just a week away from completion with Rivera saving exterior painting and final touches for warmer weather.
When it's done, Rivera said the house will be entered in the Chicago Paint and Coating Association's “Painted Lady” contest, cementing its converted reputation.
Elgin received about $2.2 million for the NSP from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) based on its foreclosures per capita. That money went toward purchasing 11 homes — the city demolished one and gave four to Habitat for Humanity to rehab.
Sales from the four almost finished homes will fund the rehabilitation of the final two. Any leftover money will be used to purchase more of houses.
The federal funds have also reached beyond the neighborhoods hosting the rehabilitation. More than 30 laborers contributed to the six different trades hired to fix up each house and much of that labor pool came from Elgin.
“Without this job I'd be sitting home,” Rivera said. “This project has kept me and several Elginites busy.”
Depending on sales figures, the program could keep people employed for at least another 14 months.
Hall said the city plans to launch as many phases as it can until March 2012 when all remaining funds must be returned to HUD.
If the first four homes are sold at the appraised value, the city will have lost $399,000 in the difference between the sale price and the amount put into purchasing and rehabbing. But that's the point of the project, according to Hall.
“We never intended to make money on the project,” Hall said. “The intent was always to make an investment in the neighborhood. It's not just a fresh coat of paint.”