Three years since funds were first allocated to the city’s blight remediation program, officials on Wednesday watched the first purchased home be demolished.
George Irby, interim planning and community development director, feels hopeful the now-empty lot on 22nd Street North will attract a developer quickly.
“I’m saying in the next two months we (will) have a buyer, especially for this first one because it’s in a decent neighborhood,” Irby said. “I think it will be easy to sell for a developer that wants to build a house.”
Funded by $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $100,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act, the blight remediation program launched in 2022 to address deteriorating properties in the city.
Through the program, the city aims to buy blighted property, demolish or rehabilitate any existing structure on it and market it to redevelopers to build affordable housing.
The city has identified roughly 350 blighted properties and contacted more 330 owners to inquire about selling the properties. Of those, only 48 owners have expressed interest in selling, according to information Irby provided to The Dispatch.
So far, the city has requested and received 38 title opinions and six updated title opinions.
“We’re still working on titles and all that good stuff,” Mayor Stephen Jones told The Dispatch. “You know how long that takes.”
Five properties have been acquired in total for about $40,970, though only one was under contract to be demolished. One of the other four tested positive for asbestos, meaning it will need to be abated before it is demolished. The city has requested and received appraisals on three properties.
Once the homes are demolished, Mississippi Home Corporation has committed about $1.5 million in a revolving loan fund to lend money to homebuilders. Homebuilders will then build homes at 0% interest, and wouldn’t have to start making loan payments for three years.
The program has stalled several times since 2022, Irby said, mostly due to delayed communication with federal grant officers. But now that the city has advertised and contracted professional services to facilitate purchases and demolish structures, the process is expected to move faster.
In the meantime, Irby looks forward to beginning training future owners of the remediated properties.
“What we’re going to do is have homeowner training, so we can get potential home buyers and have them already ready, approved, so the houses don’t have to be vacant, waiting on somebody to buy them,” he said.
The city’s goal is to remediate at least 200 properties, with a completion deadline of 2031.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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