Wednesday, October 20, 1999
Low-rate loans planned for Price Hill homes
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Civic leaders and contractors are joining in a neighborhood revitalization plan to revive the housing stock in Price Hill.
The program will offer homeowners and buyers in a nearly 30-block section of Price Hill below-market-rate loans for home improvements. The money will come from an investment pool from the Greater Cincinnati Building Trades Council, whose workers would then get the work.
“We are investing in our neighborhoods,” said Don Driehaus, vice president of the Price Hill Civic Club.
The rehabilitation program will allow residents to make the improvements on their homes that otherwise may go undone, he said.
The effort will be called Cedar Grove, Mr. Driehaus said. The name is the area's historical designation, after the former Cedar Grove Academy, now Seton High School. The area targeted surrounds the school and is bounded by Eighth Street, Seton Avenue, Liberty Street and Sunset Avenue.
While details about how residents and home buyers can apply for the loans are still being finalized, there are few restrictions expected, other than that the home must be owner-occupied and improvements must be in keeping with the integrity of the community, said Tom Spegal, political coordinator with the Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, one of the participating trade groups.
The unions are looking to gather a pool of up to $3 million that will fund the revitalization loan program, Mr. Spegal said. The money will likely come from their various investment programs.
The Cedar Grove project is a chance for the unions to invest in Cincinnati's neighborhoods and to bring about a positive change, Mr. Spegal said. He and other backers hope it will spur home ownership in the city and increase property values.
Organizers hope to begin working with residents by year's end. There is no set number for how many residents can take part, Mr. Driehaus said. If the program is successful, though, the union may expand it to other neighborhoods.
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