Ground broken for new homes
Breaking ground and breaking a sweat were the orders of the day along Summerlea Avenue in Washington.
The Washington County Redevelopment Authority unveiled details of a project emblematic of its name and mission Tuesday morning – redevelopment of a blighted area in western Washington. Seven small, vacant, dilapidated houses that had been leveled near the end of Summerlea will give way to two single-family homes. And if the redevelopment authority’s plans to demolish a condemned home behind these lots are realized, a third eventually may go up.
“This is exciting for the city,” Mayor Brenda Davis said during the groundbreaking at 1255 Summerlea, a well-struck 8-iron from Route 18. “This is the first new construction in the 7th Ward. We have a lot of blighted properties and we want to do more of this.”
Bill McGowen, redevelopment authority executive director, said, “The Summerlea project is a great example of pursuing, then fulfilling, the goal of removing blight. Seven blighted structures have been removed, but this also provides home ownership and I definitely think it helps the neighborhood.”
Threshold Housing Development Inc., of Uniontown, is building the two homes. Each will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a one-car garage and up to 1,400 square feet of space. Threshold President Bruce Hotchkiss said each will have a minimum mortgage of about $80,000 and should appraise at “roughly” $150,000. Construction could begin as early as today and should take four to five months, said Rob Phillips, assistant community development director for the redevelopment authority.
“This will be a great addition to the area,” he said.
Eligible buyers can get assistance on down payment and closing costs. The project is funded through the Federal Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnerships programs. The authority administers the money on behalf of the county commissioners. This urban renewal project began in December, when Slovenian Savings and Loan Association of Canonsburg foreclosed on the seven properties then donated them to the authority.
“We had worked with the redevelopment authority before on different projects,” said Bruce Kurtz, chief executive officer of Slovenian, which actually is in North Strabane Township. “If you get improvement in different areas, it brings the whole neighborhood up.”
Gregg Inc., of Eighty Four, demolished the seven homes for $77,600. The lots were subdivided into two to accommodate new construction. These are the first new homes Threshold is building in Washington County, although it has rehabilitated dozens here over the past 17 years – including a number in the city’s Highland Ridge section. Threshold, a nonprofit, belongs to the Community Housing Development Organization. It builds or rehabilitates housing for low-income individuals and families. Sweltering conditions did not dissuade a number of public officials from attending, some of whom hoisted a shovel. The mayor was accompanied by all three county commissioners – Larry Maggi, Diana Irey Vaughan and Harlan Shober – plus city council members Joe Manning, Terry Faust, Ken Westscott and Matt Staniszewski; state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg; and a representative for state Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane.
None of the speakers labored long at the microphone.
“Congratulations to everybody for coming together on this,” Shober said. “You’ve taken something bad and made it good. People have to continue rowing the boat and keep doing these projects.”