By Travis Gettys
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEWPORT - Two years after the city broke ground on a collaborative project to increase home ownership, residents have moved into Ann Street Commons.

The two-story townhouses were developed by Newport Housing Development Corp., a joint effort between the city of Newport and Brighton Center, Northern Kentucky's largest private social service agency.

"It's a beautiful dream to own a home, and a new one at that," said Matt Switzer, who last month bought one of the first five houses to be completed.

Switzer and his fiancee, Veronica Canada, financed almost half the purchase price of their home with grants provided by other project partners, such as Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati and Kentucky Housing Corp.

"We're still in a daze," Switzer said.

The city provided about $200,000 to the $2.6 million Ann Street development as a revolving loan, said City Manager Phil Ciafardini.

"When a property is sold, we get the funds back," he explained.

Three houses have been sold since January, said Ken Smith, chief operating officer of Brighton Properties.

Newport Housing Development Corp. acquired about 20 houses, at $40,000 to $50,000 each, Smith said, and demolished them to make way for the new homes, which will sell for $118,000 to $133,000.

"Whatever the home cost (to build) is what we're selling them for," Smith said.

Ann Street Commons is the first completed project in a planned revitalization of this mostly residential neighborhood, which some say never recovered from heavy damage received during the 1937 flood. "These are the first houses built in the west end in a long time," Smith said. They won't be the last, either.

Over the next three years, the remaining 23 homes at Ann Street Commons will be completed in phases of five to 10 units.

A block away, houses in the Liberty Row development have begun to rise from their foundations, preparing for the planned relocation of residents in the city's public housing, which will be razed.

"We're trying to create good quality, safe housing for all income levels," Ciafardini said.

E-mail tgettys@enquirer.com