Request for Proposals from General Contractors to Build Houses for NONDC
NONDC has been awarded federal funds for construction of affordable housing. As part of a city-wide consortium, NONDC received a grant award from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2, a federal program aimed at construction in disinvested neighborhoods. NONDC was awarded this money partly for the purposes of developing approximately 15 affordable homes, which will be built in batches of 2-8 houses at a time. The construction of these homes must conform to the required regulations regarding bonding, insurance, labor practices, and other applicable rules. These homes must be built to the green-building standards set out by the Builder’s Challenge and Green Communities Criteria.
Find more information by checking out our 2012 RFP section of the website. Additionally, home plans can be found there as well.
Selective Salvage at 3300 La Salle Street
Today, NONDC continued preparing its property at 3300 La Salle Street for demolition. Once the current blighted property has been removed, the site will serve as an important piece of ongoing commercial development efforts along the La Salle Corridor.
We worked with Willie White of the Old City Building Center to remove the salvageable parts, including roofing titles and other architectural details, for reuse on other sites in the future. Before the building is demolished, we will also pull off the doors.
As a result of a recent story featuring NONDC in the Times Picayune, we received a call from Gina Anderson on the West Bank. She was inquiring about old siding for her friend, Ms. Ursula, who has been working to repair her storm-damaged home since Hurricane Katrina. We were able to donate some of the wood from the 3300 La Salle property as well as some shingles that had been stored inside the building. Ms. Ursula’s birthday is this Monday, and this served as the perfect early birthday present!
NONDC Participates in First Major Lien Foreclosure Auction
Today NONDC took part in the first major lien foreclosure sheriff’s sale in New Orleans as 19 properties went up for auction. Over the past year, NONDC has advocated for this process with the City’s Code Enforcement, City Council, and the City Attorney’s Office. We were excited to be able to see properties go up for sale that have been neglected for many years and sit in blighted condition. We plan to bring the property that we purchased at 2815 3rd Street back into commerce and build a high-quality affordable home on the lot.
For more on the city’s lien foreclosure auction and NONDC’s participation, click here for a story in today’s Times-Picuyane.
- 2815 Third St. Photo by Ted Jackson, The Times-Picayune
Curb Appeal Your Block Takes to Martin Luther King Boulevard
This past Saturday five residents took to the 2800 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard to continue the attack on overgrown lots. This lot had bamboo over 8 feet high, thick weeds, large branches, and even a few rats. As Curb Appeal Your Block tested out some new heavy equipment including the Cub Cadet which took down the overgrown lot in no time (though the battery had a hard time holding its charge). All told the lot was gone in under three hours. 
NONDC Homes with Solar Panels in Times Picayune
Check out some recent press on NONDC for the solar panels that we are putting up on the houses on S. Liberty Street. Our Construction Manager Charles Cutno is featured prominently in the article online and in print:
Charles Cutno in front of the new solar paneled house at 1605 S. Liberty Street.
The upfront costs were also prohibitive for the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative, which has rebuilt more than 25 vacant properties into affordable housing for Central City residents, said Charles Cutno, project manager for the group.
“We looked into it for a period of time, we researched it and found that the overall costs to go with an independent distributor were a lot more expensive,” Cutno said. “That’s one of the reasons we restyled with Make It Right Solar, to bring more of an affordable point to it.”
From what he could find, Cutno said those costs were 100 to 150 percent higher than the current arrangement, which allows him to pass the savings on to eligible homeowners.
“We’re able to pass on to the homeowner, at that point, and to me that’s one of the major advantages of it, actually,” he said. “Overall, it’s going to reduce their energy bill, we estimate, between 30 to 50 percent now, depending on the day uses, so for the individuals we build for, that’s a drastic reduction in their bill.”
These solar panels are funded through our Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 funded through HUD and administered by the LHFA. These homes are also part of our HOPEVI program geared towards individuals with incomes that are 80% or less of the Area Median Income and part of the offsite redevelopment of the CJ Peete Housing Project. You can find the entire article here.
Progress Continues on S. Liberty Street
After putting in the solar panels on the homes at 1605 and 1614 S Liberty street, it’s time to install the sheet rock. We have been working with C&G Construction to construct these two homes and an additional home on Terpsichore Street as part of our HOPEVI and NSP1 Construction. We’re pleased that as we construct this project, the funds are being spent to help hire local residents.
Solar Panels Go Up!
This past week we installed solar panels on the property at 1605 S Liberty St. It is part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 (NSP1) funded by Louisiana Housing Finance Authority, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These are the first houses in Central City to have solar panels and the first in a planned series of seven solar panel installations done by Make It Right Solar. We believe that this will significantly decrease home energy bills for buyers.
NONDC Welcomes New Community Outreach Manager
NONDC welcomes Katherine Medina to the team.
NONDC is pleased to welcome Katherine Medina to our staff. As our Community Outreach Manager she presents the value of homeownership, plants seeds of encouragement and motivation to future-homebuyers; and is the front line of NONDC’s Homeownership Program. Katherine was born in the country of Panama and grew up in the 7th Ward of New Orleans. Katherine is a proven leader with a track record of leveraging relationships and inspiring others to achieve and exceed common goals.We are excited to have her on the team. Please check out her staff bio HERE.
Walk the Block: A Huge Success!
This past weekend, NONDC and Jericho Road worked together to conduct a property conditions survey with residents and volunteers in Central City. With the help of Dr. Michelle Thompson and David Lessinger of whodata.org we were able to create a parcel-based survey of 4,000 properties for Walk the Block: Block the Blight! We had over 50 volunteers at the event, including several students from St. Augustine High School and the University of Alabama with several representatives from the City and NORA. After a brief training in the morning at the 6th District Police Station we took to the streets to determine occupancy and property condition data for properties in Central City. Afterwards, we gathered for a picnic with hot dogs and food catered by Urban Impact Ministries at the brand new Central City Peanut Park on Simon Bolivar. Over the next few weeks we will be working with volunteers to enter in data and then create maps and a report on the information volunteers worked to gather. Please check back for more information here, and also at whodata.org where the results will eventually be published in an easy to use format. Check out more photos on our Facebook photos page!
Kim and Alphonse study the map
Rudy and Tyler smile while surveying
NONDC Announces RFP for 4 Single-Family NSP2 Homes
As part of a city-wide consortium, NONDC received a grant award from the
Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2, a federal program aimed at construction
in disinvested neighborhoods. NONDC was awarded this money for the purposes
of acquiring lots and developing at minimum four single-family homes for
ownership. The target demographic is persons living at 120% area median
income and lower. These homes are built in part with federal financing and
grants, and construction processes must conform to the required regulations
regarding bonding, insurance, labor practices, and other applicable rules. These
homes will be built to the green-building standards set out by the Builder’s
Challenge and Green Communities Criteria.
The full request for proposal is available on our website at:
http://nondc.org/housing/construction/construction-rfps/
Bid submissions will be collected until 3pm, April 21, 2011. No bids
received after 3pm, April 21, 2011 will be accepted for consideration.
