Investor views blighted city homes
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An open house for contractors this week at two properties the city wants to convey for renovation strengthened the case for early intervention against blight in Altoona.
One investor/advisor visited both the moderately deteriorated house at 1305 18th Avenue and the severely deteriorated house at 1321 21st Avenue and concluded that renovating the first would be financially feasible, but renovating the second, badly deteriorated one would not.
"This will be easy," said Joe Zolna, as he toured the living room and dining room of the 18th Avenue structure, which has a brick exterior and a good roof, and which wouldn't need to be gutted prior to renovation, according to Zolna.
"I see a lot of money here," Zolna said to tour guides Ron Beatty, a city councilman, and Jim Trexler, the city's housing program manager, after reaching the attic of the 21st Avenue house, which would need totally gutted before renovation, according to Zolna.
In the 18th Avenue house, workers could apply drywall over existing sound wall coverings pretty much throughout, while replacement windows could be installed in the standard window openings, Zolna said.
By contrast, in the 21st Avenue house, the plaster and lath are too badly deteriorated, and the windows are non-standard, with some racked out of square, which would mean workers must jack up parts of the framing and custom replacements, he said.
Renovating the 21st Avenue house would probably cost $120,000, while selling it afterward would only return about $170,000 -- not enough of a "spread," Zolna said.
The city's RFP calls for proposals for renovation, but if he were to come into possession of the property, he would raze the 21st Avenue house and build two new, modest ones on the lot, Zolna said.
He could construct both for about $170,000 and sell them for a total of $400,000, he predicted.
That would be a workable spread, he said.
In building homes, his target for purchase is the young family, Zolna said.
Those generally prefer not to have to focus on housing maintenance, so they can pay attention to one another -- spouses and children -- and to their jobs, he said.
A new, maintenance-free house allows for that, he said.
A renovated house, even newly renovated, still presents questions of maintenance, he said.
"It's so much easier to sell a new house," he said.
To fulfill his vision for the 18th Avenue property would require both houses to face 14th Street, which would in turn probably require a variance from the Zoning Hearing Board to eliminate the requirement for a significant setback, he said.
City Council members, including Beatty and Dave Ellis, have stressed the need for programs that help low-income property owners maintain their homes, so the homes don't deteriorate to the point of needing to be razed.
Both have helped with the current TEAMeffort missions program that is bringing 700 youths to the city this summer for work on the homes of needy people.
Overflow Church conducted cleanups and repair efforts in May, Ellis and others have said.
The city could supplement such efforts with a fix and lien program, under which workers could make repairs, after which the city would lien the properties involved for the cost of making those repairs, Beatty said.
The city would still need to be "compassionate" in administering that sort of program, he said.
It's critical, however, to keep blight at bay for the benefit of neighborhoods, Beatty said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.