Holden Heights Community Development Corporation
“It Takes a Clean and Safe Village to Raise a Child”
Housing Plan
Introduction
Holden Heights Community Development Corporation (HHCDC) was organized to serve the low-income, underserved neighborhoods that have experienced significant disinvestment and to address long-term community revitalization by building affordable housing, assisting or starting small businesses, youth development and creating jobs; to include the very low income struggling residents in the community/neighborhood.
HHCDC will also be involved in a variety of many other activities including economic development, education, community organizing and real estate development, community health such as economic development, sanitation, streetscaping, and neighborhood planning projects, and oftentimes even provide education and social services to neighborhood residents and facilitate anchor capital for residential and commercial development, ranging from affordable housing, retail, shopping centers and even large businesses development.
There are many barriers to private venture development activities in these neighborhoods. As a result, normal market incentives do not work effectively.
Homeownership includes the development of affordable single and multi-family homes. Research has indicated that housing market conditions and opportunities for the extremely low to moderate-income individuals and the market in isolation do not serve families but in conjunction with local incentives that promote increased homeownership to sell and/or lease-purchase programs for the extremely low to the moderate-income buyer. A network of public, private, and non-profit organizations is encouraged to implement creative ways to increase home ownership
Housing Plan
The physical realization of housing and development in the Holden Heights area is perhaps the most fundamental and important aspect of the overall plan. There are currently over 300 vacant lots or properties in Holden Heights and this constitutes a major problem for the overall sense of community and economic well-being of the area. The Holden Heights area has suffered from planning blight and there has never been a coordinated development plan to address this or to meet the aspirations of the residents. The interactive and ground roots approach of this Action Plan ensures not only are the resident’s concerns and comments fully listened to, they will be turned into concrete proposals and actions that will change this neighborhood forever.
Public/Resident Comment
During the many community meetings that have been held a wide variety of topics have been discussed and many comments and suggestions have been put forward for consideration. These include:
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Infill Housing
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Mixed Use Development
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Building a Neighborhood Center
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Upgrading streetscapes
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Improve and add recreational spaces
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Re-purposing Grand Avenue School
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Making Homes Affordable and
resisting gentrification -
Training and Educational Programs
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Community Clean Up Teams
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Neighborhood Watch
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Host job fair
Making it happen
All the words and intentions in the world do not create success. There needs to be a solid base for implementation with a phased approach that can provide the initial catalyst by both public and private entities to participate and turn all these aspirations into reality.
The following suggestions are a roadmap and can best be described as a possible way forward that can be adapted and priorities changed on an as-needed and ongoing basis:
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Request the County and City to donate two vacant housing lots that can be developed by HHCDC with single-family infill housing
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Prepare a Public/Private Partnership (P3) RFP
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Identify any Church-owned property that could be developed
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Create Design Guidelines for development in Holden Heights (combining the City and County versions)
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Identify and pursue grants that can be implemented through Front Porch 501c3
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Open discussions with private developers to identify possible mixed-use and/or multifamily development
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Identify and negotiate with the City and County what subsidies can be applied to affordable housing and become an ‘approved’ entity for review of applicants and the eligibility process
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Partner with the 501c3 entities to provide assistance programs for home buyers including credit repair, buying and owning a home and financial planning for home buyers.
Floor Plans
House Plan One
Housing Rehabiliation
Housing rehabilitation is another primary need within the targeted areas. The increased number of vacant, substandard, foreclosed properties shapes our thinking and the inclusion of housing rehabilitation in our strategic plan. These properties within the target areas are in need of renovation ranging from complete systems, improved energy efficiency and replacement of functionally obsolescent components to minor upgrades of basic elements and cosmetic improvements.