* The Northside Urban Conservation Community Development Corporation (NUC) has requested over $1.1M in city funding and support to rehab housing as part of the Fergus Street Homeownership Project.  The project will support targeted residential redevelopment of blighted buildings in the high crime (particularly centered at Chase and Fergus) eastern part of Northside.  This part of the neighborhood has not seen the kind of rehabilitation that much of Northside has enjoyed, and there are many vacant buildings, code violations, and foreclosures.  There is also a scarcity of on-site owners.

 

The city has offered $300K in CDBG funds to get the project rolling, during which time the city will be able to evaluate NUC's capacity to manage the full program.  The city will budget more money in its 2006 budget if it is demonstrated that this will work.

 

The project will develop 20 units through two activities:

• a) Site-specific redevelopment of the northern block of Chase Ave. between Fergus and Mad Anthony streets.  This will include the purchase of 6 structures and the demolition of 5 of those structures.  Five new units (3 detached, 2 attached) with off-street parking will be built on the cleared lots.
  
• b) Acquisition-rehab or acquisition-rebuild for 15 homes in the target area.  These sites have not been determined.

 

There are approximately 200 homes in the target area, so this project will rehab 10% of the housing stock.  Efforts will be made to cluster properties to achieve maximum effect.

 

NUC would like to work with small, local developers if possible.  They also seek support from the city in working on neighborhood issues.

 

http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/13383.pdf

 

 

 

Excellent.  This section can really use a shot in the arm like this.  The housing stock in other parts of Northside has seen increased investment recently, and I expect this effort to spark some collateral investment by other property owners.

Oops.  This shouldn't have been stickied.

 

Anyway, I just split this thread today and I hope to have some news soon.

An update on the Fergus Street Project

http://www.northside.net/GetInvolved/CURC/

YAY!!!

 

 

Neighbors cheer teardown of abandoned drug store

BY ALLEN HOWARD | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

Northside residents felt they were reclaiming part of their neighborhood Wednesday as they cheered when the former McPerry's drug store on the northeast corner of Fergus and Chase streets was torn down.

 

The building had been labeled by Cincinnati police as the No. 1 hot spot in Northside for crime and drug peddling.

 

The city of Cincinnati, Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. and Contemporary Arts Center held a ceremony launching a revitalization project for the street corner.

 

It is called the Fergus Street Homeownership Project and will include replacing the drug store with two new houses and renovating two others.

 

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060518/NEWS01/605180384/1056/rss02

 

I want to get involved in one of these ceremonial tear downs (West End, Price Hill, Northside)...give me the sledgehammer next time I would love to take part!!

Good news for Northside.  Over the past 15 years this area has developed an eclectic and cool population, and I am glad to see concerned citizens taking charge of issues like this.

Here are a couple of pics from the aftermath.  They were taken 5/19/06:

 

 

im very excited for Northside.  An awesome neighborhood to begin with and add to that a bunch of ppl who care equals a truely incredible 'hood in years to come.

An update on the Fergus Street project... (Yes, this news is a month old.)

 

Cincinnati City Council voted unanimously to sell six lots to the Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CNCURC) for one dollar.

 

Five of the lots are along Chase Ave, between Fergus and Mad Anthony streets.  This is where three buildings were demolished last May.

 

The other lot is at Chase and Mad Anthony, currently occupied by a structure awaiting demolition.

 

The sale of these lots will allow CNCURC to construct three new LEED-certified home ownership units as Phase One of the Fergus Street Homeownership Project.

 

It may be a few months before any action occurs.  CNCURC will have to submit, and have approved, various levels of development plans to the City.

 

UPDATE: I'll be posting a couple of construction pics on my blog tomorrow morning.

---

Northside HOME project to be first in nation

Building Cincinnati, 10/5/07

 

S. Flavio Espinoza's "Suburban Loft" design

 

Two new single-family homes at Chase and Fergus streets in Northside will be the first of their kind in the nation.

 

The Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CNCURC) project is a result of David Brown's HOME House Project, a national design initiative aimed at providing well-designed, environmentally-friendly affordable housing.

 

Brown launched the project at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem. In 2003, an open competition for the best design drew 400 entries from the United States and six other countries.

 

Soon after, a travelling exhibit was arranged with the hope of teaming with local community development corporations in each city where the exhibit was hosted to build at least one of the designs. The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, which hosted the local exhibit, chose to sponsor the CNCURC as its local development corporation.

 

The Northside homes will be the first two HOME House Project designs to be completed in the nation. Five other designs have been chosen to be built in Winston-Salem and one has been chosen to be built in El Paso.

 

This project is also one of the two projects in the City of Cincinnati participating in the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED pilot program.

 

Construction began in late August. On September 6, the City hosted a ceremony celebrating the kickoff of Phase I of the Fergus Street Homeownership project and the beginning of the Northside Neighborhood Enhancement Initiative (Blitz).

 

The design, by architect S. Flavio Espinoza, is called "Suburban Loft" and features a two-story stairway atrium and a butterfly-shaped roof with solar collectors to generate electricity. Espinoza worked alongside local Northside architect Alice Emmons to refine his design.

 

Each home will be two stories and approximately 1,400 square feet in size. Each will include three bedrooms, two baths and a detached garage.

 

The homes will cost $226,000 apiece to build but will likely be sold for around $180,000.

 

The CNCURC plans to have the homes ready for sale by mid-to-late December.

 

During construction, the CNCURC will be conducting instructional on-site tours about green building. To date, those participating in the tours include the USGBC, the American Institute of Architects and the Congress of Residential Architects.

 

A third environmentally-friendly house, to be desiged by Alice Emmons and to be built at Chase Avenue and Mad Anthony Street, will round out Phase I.

 

As a condition of CNCURC's construction loan with North Side Bank & Trust, construction on the third house will not begin until one of the HOME houses is sold.

 

Current sponsors of the Northside HOME project are the City of Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the MetLife Foundation, Pella, the Habegger Corporation, the Ed and JoAnn Hubert Family Foundation and an anonymous donor. The CNCURC is seeking more sponsors.

 

The Fergus Street Homeownership Project was designed to boost homeownership and to stem the tide of foreclosures, vacancies and crime in the area bounded (roughly) by Pullan Avenue, Knowlton Street, Mad Anthony Street and Langland Street.

 

Phase II of the project will be the acquisition and rehabilitation/demolition of 20 properties in the target area. The CNCURC purchased six of these properties from the City earlier this year for $1.

 

Building Cincinnati is currently awaiting architectural sketches. Those will be posted as soon as the are received. Photos of the building site will be posted next week.

 

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

GOOGLE AERIAL MAP

 

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/10/northside-home-project-to-be-first-in.html

 

Northside HOME photo update, 10/4/07

Building Cincinnati, 10/9/07

 

Foundations are completed on the HOME project in Northside.

 

The Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Revelopment Corporation is building two LEED-certified, affordable single-family homes at the corner of Chase and Fergus streets.

 

The homes will be sold for about $180,000 each.

 

The architect was S. Flavio Espinoza, with assistance from Northside resident and architect Alice Emmons.

 

They should be completed by mid-to-late December.

 

 

 

 

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/10/northside-home-photo-update-10407.html

 

Green building movement finds a home in Northside

BY LAURA BAVERMAN | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

October 19, 2007

 

NORTHSIDE - Northside has turned its most crime-ridden corner into one of the city's first green housing projects.

 

Two environmentally friendly single-family homes are taking shape on the corner of Chase and Fergus streets, the first phase of the community's Fergus Street Home Ownership Project and the nationwide kickoff of green construction through the HOME House Project, an initiative that seeks out affordable ways to build sustainable housing. That corner had generated the most calls from Cincinnati police in the neighborhood.

 

The project has been launched through the Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., founded by its president Stefanie Sunderland in 2005. The former housing chairwoman of the Northside Community Council, Sunderland pinpointed the corner buildings and about 20 other properties as deterrents to neighborhood revitalization.

 

"At some point, you have to figure out a way to address the problems that are very complicated to resolve," Sunderland said. She realized property acquisition was the last chance at dissolving crime and reversing blight.

 

With the help of the city of Cin­cin­nati, the corporation purchased and demolished the corner property in May 2006. When the Contemporary Arts Center came to Sunderland with a proposal to build one of the designs from its 2006 HOME House exhibit, it seemed like a perfect fit.

Northside HOME elevations and floor plans

Building Cincinnati, 10/31/07

 

Fergus Street Homeownership Project Architect Alice Emmons has supplied Building Cincinnati with the following elevations and floor plans for the HOME project at Chase Avenue and Fergus Street in Northside.

 

The Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Revelopment Corporation is in the process of building two LEED-certified, affordable single-family homes. These should be completed by December.

 

Please click on each image to enlarge to 2592 x 1728 (300-400 KB).

 

Elevations

 

First floor and foundation

 

Second floor

 

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/10/northside-home-elevations-and-floor.html

Northside HOME houses hit the market

Building Cincinnati, 11/20/07

 

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5377/1440chasepl5.jpg[/img]

Photo from the Greater Cincinnati MLS

 

Both of Northside's HOME project houses hit the market this week at a price of $189,900.

 

The Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CNCURC) project is a result of David Brown's HOME House Project, a national design initiative aimed at providing well-designed, environmentally-friendly affordable housing.

 

When completed in December, these will be the first HOME houses built in the United States.

 

Each house offers three bedrooms, one-and-a-half baths and numerous energy-saving features.

 

Sales are being handled by Huff Realty.

 

This construction is a component of a the Fergus Street Homeownership Project, a redevelopment plan designed to boost homeownership and to stem the tide of foreclosures, vacancies and crime in the area bounded (roughly) by Pullan Avenue, Knowlton Street, Mad Anthony Street and Langland Street.

 

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/northside-home-houses-hit-market.html