The
first eight of 45 new homes in the Beltzhoover and Allentown
neighborhoods are nearly finished, says Tom Hardy, assistant director
of the South Side Local Development Company.
The eight new
houses, which will replace vacant buildings or fill vacant
lots, are on Beltzhoover Ave., just off Warrington, Allentown’s
main street, and not far from Mt. Washington and Knoxville. “It’s
a pretty critical area for all those neighborhoods,” Hardy says.
“Everyone agreed that to have an impact, we wanted to do something of
considerable scale.”
Built by South Side-based Jaxson
Development, the two-story houses will have three bedrooms
and full basements that can be finished by the buyers. Seven will have
detached garages on the alley, and all will have front porches.
Funded
in part with $1 million from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency,
qualified buyers can also obtain deferred second mortgages from the
Urban Redevelopment Authority, which can make the $125,000-$140,000
houses affordable for low- to moderate-income buyers, Hardy explains.
Prospective
buyers can get a tour from a local: Neighborhood resident Jennifer Cash
Wade will be selling the houses through Northwood Realty.
Source: Tom Hardy, South Side Local Development Company
Photo copyright © Tom Altany