Atlanta Fixes Foreclosed Properties for Sale with NSP Money
Several foreclosed properties for sale around Atlanta will be acquired and fixed by the city using money from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
Atlanta has already chosen 15 local construction companies to use a total of $14 million in NSP funds to buy foreclosed properties for sale in the city’s blighted neighborhoods, repair them and then resell them or rent them out to lower-income families.
Four construction companies have already been allotted with about $3 million to use and the other 11 firms chosen from 68 applicants will be provided with $11 million. Before the companies were chosen, they were asked to submit their proposals on how they can help blighted neighborhoods and how they will spend the money. They were also required to put up their own money to supplement the NSP funds.
Grants to contractors will vary from 400,000 to $2 million, depending on their financial and development capabilities.
Valerie Fountaine, coordinator of the NSP in Atlanta, explained that her group chose contractors that had adequate finances, experiences in affordable housing development and proven capacity to start and complete development projects.
The chosen firms had proposed to acquire 258 foreclosed properties for sale in blighted neighborhoods that include Pittsburg, Edgewood and Sylvan Hills and then convert them into affordable rental apartments or owner-occupied houses.
The NSP, administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, aims to rescue foreclosure-battered neighborhoods from decay by giving rehabilitation money to cities, counties and states.
Atlanta got a total share of $16.2 million from the $146 million given to the state of Georgia.
Another $1.02 million was given to nonprofit housing developer Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, which has proposed to repair more than 10 houses in the foreclosure-hit neighborhoods of Whitefoord and Sylvan Hills. It has committed to add $300,000 to the fund and to use about $140,000 for the purchase and repair of each of the houses.
ANDP chief executive John O’Callaghan also explained his plan of selling first before offering lease-purchases so that his group can rehabilitate more houses. He said he has talked with builders and realtors before designing the nonprofit’s program.
Evelyn Nu’Man, housing director of Atlanta, said the total NSP money is not enough to rehabilitate all vacant foreclosed properties for sale and save entire neighborhoods. She explained that the NSP was designed to slow down the decay of neighborhoods by making an impact on areas most battered by abandoned foreclosed properties for sale.
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