On February 14, the Livable City Initiative (LCI), the city's development agency, celebrated the opening and sale of four single-family houses on Pardee Street in the Fair Haven section of New Haven. LCI also funds non-profit developers, but in this case chose to develop the housing directly. Since the year 2000, LCI has assumed a dual role as funder of affordable housing developments as well as developer of 27 housing units.

This is the redevelopment of four vacant city-owned lots. The City acquired the lots in 1999 and 2000 through tax foreclosure. At the time of acquisition the parcels were appraised at $2000 to $7900. During the construction of the four houses, an additional lot was acquired through tax foreclosure. LCI will expand the project to build a 5th house on this land.

LCI selected two contractors to construct the houses through a competitive bidding process. Statewide Construction and Northeastern Development each completed two houses. Architect Robert Wilson of The Wilson Group managed housing design and construction.

The houses are of modular construction, customized to the City's specifications. Three of the houses are three-bedroom, and one is four bedroom unit. All have 2.5 baths and a one-car garage. Two of the houses have fireplaces. Two houses are 1488 square feet, and two are 1344 square feet. Both HOME and Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) repayment dollars were used to finance the housing.

Total cost of the four houses to the City was $591,773. The properties are being sold for $115,000 to $125,000; totaling $470,000. Mortgage financing was done through Citizens' Bank, People's Bank, and Merchant's Capital. Buyer downpayments ranged from $2,000 to $9,000.

Content Archived: March 21, 2011