A small miracle is transpiring at 439 Hawthorne Avenue in East Price Hill. As I tiptoe around bins of tools, step over buckets and edge along a ladder, I pause to entertain the idea that the room I'm standing in will someday be a furnished living area, or perhaps a kitchen, replete with glittering appliances. It's difficult to imagine, especially given the fact that the dull wood floor beneath my feet is splattered with dry wall, and the large white walls surrounding me are still patchy and bare. But soon enough, through the efforts of the community non-profit organization Price Hill Will, this house will be transformed. Rather, much like the neighborhood it is part of, this house is a diamond in the rough, just waiting to be polished.
Around January of last year, when the previous owner of the Hawthorne house decided that he could no longer maintain the deteriorating structure, he donated the seven bedroom, 100-year-old abode to the Housing Redevelopment division of
Price Hill Will, an organization whose tagline has been "A Community in Conversation About its Future" since its official inception five years ago. To this end, the redevelopment division focuses on beautifying the physical appearance of Price Hill houses, which in turn translates into higher home ownership and an ultimately more stabilized community.
This task requires someone with an eye for the aesthetic, and a mind for numbers.
James Bass is that man. The 35-year-old Cincinnati native directs the Housing Redevelopment division's projects, which begin and end under his supervision. Bass's projects follow a general course of action. It begins when a vacant house goes up on the market. Then, Bass personally visits the house and reviews what improvements need to be made before hiring a general contractor to direct the construction and remodeling. These improvements are conducted according Bass's master specifications. Bass simplifies his directorial role by saying, "We buy a house, fix it up, and sell it for what the market can bear." But if Bass's past projects are any indication, the devil is truly in the details.
In regard to his vision for the projects, Bass starts with his mantra: "Open it up and let it breathe." Sometimes this means knocking down entire walls, constituting a complete metamorphosis of a room. Other times, he and his team concentrate on minute details. In regard to the Hawthorne house improvements, they have corrected a slanting stair case, put up new vinyl siding, and installed a new furnace, ductwork, and insulation--to name a few. The work has resulted in a dramatic physical facelift, a LEED caliber home in turns of efficiency, and a still accruing $130,000 expense list.
Price Hill Will is able to shoulder these expenses in part because it is a co-lead agency of the
Place Matters Initiative, a movement to recognize the role geography plays in the distribution of resources. Price Hill is one of three large neighborhoods Place Matters has targeted to receive aid. The process by which this money is consummately used to fix up dilapidated homes is perhaps as involved as the construction itself.
When a house goes up for sale, Bass walks through and determines how much money the renovation, realtor fee, and taxes will cost, and then approximates what he can sell the house for when it is done. Factoring in the current market value, he then determines if money will be made or lost on the project. Most times, money is lost, and the Ohio Finance Agency and the Housing Development Assistance Program are then called upon to deal with the gap financing. Still, in order to avoid substantial deficits, the goal is for the newly renovated homes to fetch the highest amount the market allows, while keeping the homeowner as the foremost priority. Herein lies a certain amount of housing philosophy.
If Bass is the science behind Price Hill Will, then consider 38-year-old Matt Strauss the theory. Strauss directs the Housing Resource Center, which offers classes for potential buyers and provides connections to lenders with special rates for the Price Hill market. "We want to change the perception of Price Hill in the real estate buying community," Strauss says.
A key indicator of whether or not a neighborhood is doing well is how healthy its real estate market is—what's the value of a house and how long does it take to sell? With this in mind, Strauss also works to offer advice to realtors on how to make the neighborhood more attractive to buyers. This shouldn't take much, as Strauss says, "We've got good things; we don't have to lie."
But Strauss and Bass are at an obvious disadvantage right now. Their workload has been especially cumbersome in the past year. They've rehabbed or demolished thirteen homes and sold eight since November, 2007. This is largely attributable to the nationwide financial meltdown. "It's more of a challenge to sell a house in price hill for $100,000 than it was five years ago, Bass says. "And not just in Price Hill, that's everywhere."
Although low home values and rising foreclosures are nationwide problems, Price Hill has been hit especially hard. East Price Hill has the most foreclosures in the city of Cincinnati and West Price Hill the second most. "We were the perfect storm," Bass says. "When the home market began to fall, and the individual home prices fell, it led to homes being very inexpensive in Price Hill. The housing stock in Price Hill was prime for investors to purchase big single-family homes for a cheap rate, chop the properties into multi-families, and this drove more rentals into the area. Homeowners traditionally take better care of their properties. If properties around homeowners begin to dilapidate, then the existing homeowners tend to sell and this leads to more investment opportunities for rental properties." It is a vicious cycle, indeed.
But Bass and Price Hill Will have ways of combating the cycle beyond merely renovating houses. Bass will fight to keep homeowners in urban areas such as Price Hill at all costs, even if that means making sure the city keeps after those homeowners who have ignored orders to make improvements on their homes. "It's all legal, all ethical. But we do play hard," Bass says. "That's because we want to help the city." And in helping the city, Bass and Price Hill Will are helping each and every individual homeowner.
Today, back at the Hawthorne house, three workers are confined to different levels of the building mudding and sanding the walls. Tomorrow, a larger team will begin painting the interior. And, according to Bass, within three weeks the house will look completely different. This time, my mind lingers on the house itself only momentarily before shifting to the future owner's face as he or she is handed the keys to the new home.
I envision both the joy of such an investment and the relief of not having to foot any additional expenses for repairs after the purchase-- a feat only made possible through the efforts of a community group in conversation about its future.
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Keith Rutowski is a senior at UC studying Journalism and Geography. He has written for the University's website, The News Record, and Cincinnati Magazine. He is currently interning at National Geographic Adventure, where he spends the week researching extreme treks and the weekend taking his own in Manhattan's urban jungle. His special areas of interest are travel, independent films, citizen action and community organizing. Photography: Amber Kersley
Exterior of 439 Hawthorne Avenue in East Price Hill
James Bass of Price HIll Will
Interiors of 439 Hawthorne Avenue in East Price Hill