Mayor Elorza, Community Partners Present Keys to Rehabilitated Property Problem property restored through City’s receivership program and robust community advocacy
PROVIDENCE, RI – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza today joined Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris,
Jeri Martins, Home Ownership Manager for West Elmwood Housing Development
Corporation, Teresa Guaba, Community Organizer for Neighbors for Revitalization
(N4R), and community members to present the new owner of 93 Superior Street, Juan
Morente, the keys to the multi-family home. The once regarded problem property was
successfully rehabilitated through the City’s Receivership Program, a tool within
the EveryHome initiative, and robust community advocacy led by N4R.
«The rehabilitation of 93 Superior Street and its sale to a Providence family is a
big success story for the capital city,» said Mayor Elorza. «This project is a prime
example of how collaboration can inject life back into properties and ultimately
neighborhoods. While this is a great accomplishment, there is much more work to be
done as we set our eyes on restoring even more residences across our communities
with the EveryHome initiative.»
In 2015, Mayor Elorza created the EveryHome initiative in an effort to revitalize
and fill abandoned homes in the capital city. The City utilizes a suite of tools to
bring vacant and abandoned residential properties into productive reuse, including
receivership. Stephen DelSesto of Pierce Atwood LLP, the court-appointed receiver,
oversaw the property rehabilitation and contractor ACR Construction & Management
Corporation led the restoration work. Prior to court-intervention, the property was
long-blighted, tax delinquent, and had been cited for a number of health, safety,
and code violations.
«It has been our privilege to take part in a program that offers the opportunity to
build a stronger community by allowing eligible residents to experience the American
Dream of home ownership,» said Martins. «Together, we’ve rehabilitated and
transformed this property so that it is once again a beautiful and viable home.»
Community advocacy to prioritize this property in the West End neighborhood began in
2015, due to the unsafe and dangerous conditions facing the surrounding
neighborhood. Neighbors for Revitalization (N4R) engaged stakeholders including the
West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation and The Providence Children and Youth
Cabinet (CYC), and worked collaboratively with city officials to ensure
rehabilitation.
«Power is our ability to affect change. We all have power and what matters is how we
use it; people need to know what a group of neighbors can do when they come together
to create healthy neighborhoods,» said Guaba. «The way we live determines the type
of impact we receive – the type of impact that our children receive.»
A Community Development Block Grant subsidy as well as low-interest construction
lending provided by the Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA) enabled the successful
full rehabilitation of the property. The resulting energy-efficient, sustainable,
and affordable home has been sold to an owner-occupant meeting HUD income
requirements.