Opportunity Homes in the news!

01.12.10

The Opportunity Homes program; Whatever happened to ... ?

By Plain Dealer staff

January 11, 2010, 5:01AM

Scott Shaw, Plain Dealer fileJames Rudyk Jr., left, and Sam Malusky-Bacon, both with Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People, a nonprofit foreclosure prevention group, knock on doors in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood in January 2009."Whatever happened to ...?" is a weekly series updating some of the most newsworthy and interesting local stories covered in The Plain Dealer. Have a suggestion on a story we should update? Send it to John C. Kuehner at jkuehner@plaind.com, or call 216-999-5325.

Today, we answer these questions:

Whatever happened to Opportunity Homes, a program that aims to stabilize and revitalize six targeted Cleveland neighborhoods so the foreclosure crisis won't undo their progress?

Whatever Happened to the attempt to identify the skeletal remains found in Twinsburg in 1982?

Whatever happened to Ohio State University's plan to switch from quarters to semesters?

Whatever happened to Opportunity Homes, a program that aims to stabilize and revitalize six targeted Cleveland neighborhoods so the foreclosure crisis won't undo their progress?

The program -- with its numerous moving parts and new elements -- got off to a slower-than-expected start for a variety of reasons. It has since made progress in the battle to remove blight, reinvigorate neighborhoods and help prevent more foreclosures.

"We're very pleased," said Linda Warren, president of Village Capital Corp., a subsidiary of Neighborhood Progress Inc.

Opportunity Homes is the brainchild of Neighborhood Progress and is a three-year, $50 million program that aims to refurbish 300 homes, demolish 300 others and help 300 at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The targeted blocks are part of larger neighborhoods that Neighborhood Progress previously selected for a strategic investment initiative that builds on an area's existing assets or promising new developments.

But with the region slammed by the corrosive foreclosure crisis, Neighborhood Progress didn't want the initiative's work to unravel, so Opportunity Homes was created.

Warren said early results can be seen in places like Slavic Village, where particular blocks have seen houses renovated or demolished and vacant lots spruced up with grasses and flowers.

"It's amazing," Warren said. "You now notice the really solid homes that are there, that were obliterated by the preponderance of blight before."

Opportunity Homes is also working in sections of the Detroit-Shoreway, Buckeye/Shaker Square, Tremont, Fairfax and Glenville neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Progress is coordinating the program. Cleveland Housing Network is managing the rehabilitation, sales and home-buyer counseling. The city of Cleveland is doing the demolitions. The outreach to homeowners is handled by Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People, or ESOP, and local nonprofit community development groups.

The three components are at different stages:

So far 118 homes have been purchased for energy-efficient renovations, and 45 more are in the pipeline. About a dozen homes have been fixed up and either sold or contracted out under a plan through which residents first lease and later purchase a home. An additional 40 are undergoing construction work. Rob Curry, executive director of the Cleveland Housing Network, says it takes time to move homes through a process he likens to an assembly line, but adds: "Every aspect of the strategy is playing out."

Just over 55 homes have been demolished. Neighborhood Progress said the pace should soon pick up thanks to better targeting of distressed homes within the Opportunity Homes boundaries.

About 30 foreclosures have been averted so far through loan modifications. That's lower than expected. Neighborhood Progress said it's been difficult to secure deals with mortgage companies, and some homeowners have been reluctant to sign up for the program.

"They've been so inundated with loan rescue scams that they don't know who to trust," said Frank Ford, a senior vice president with Neighborhood Progress.

Funding sources include the city of Cleveland, Ohio Housing Finance Agency, Living Cities, Enterprise Community Partners, KeyBank, Dollar Bank, FirstMerit Bank, Huntington Bank, Housing Partnership Network, Citi Foundation and Fannie Mae, and Village Capital.

-- Sandra Livingston