FeedsWayne to spend grant funds to re-hab houses
Four places in the City of Wayne are about to get a little nicer.
City council members approved about $380,000 to rehab four houses in the city through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), said City Planner Matt Miller. The federal funds are designed to help stabilize home values.
“They’ll be the nicest homes in the city when they’re done,” said Miller.
The lowest qualified bid for the works was initially more than $490,000, but the city amended the scope of the project to save additional money, he said. Even so, the amount of the work averages out to nearly $95,000 per home.
“It’s still not great,” said Miller. “It’s still expensive.”
The scope of the work necessitated the high bids, though, he said. The four homes are at 31429 Pierce, the corner of Harroun and Howe streets, 5206 Woodward and 5169 Niagara.
Miller said all homes would be completely redone, including new kitchens, bathrooms, trim, roofs and insulation-they would exceed modern energy efficiency standards-as well as new landscaping and driveways. One would get a new garage, too.
In addition, they would all be brought up to code.
“We’re not only renovating them, we’re undoing all the past mistakes,” he said.
The house on the corner of Harroun and Howe is an example of that, he said. Vacant for more than a year, the front side of it is covered with vines that are actually growing into the structure, he said. The former owner constructed an illegal addition to the home without a proper foundation, and that has to be fixed, he said. Another home has so much mold inside it that one of the rooms is nearly all black.
Despite the issues, he said the homes were all well constructed brick houses.
“The quality is there; it’s just been abused,” said Miller.
The city has received more than $540,000 for the NSP program. Miller said these homes were chosen because the city already owns them. The program has more stringent requirements to purchase homes prior to their renovation.
“We purchased these homes for next to nothing,” he said. “They were all tax foreclosures or $1 homes.”
