A group of past and present
Spring Grove Village residents are invested, literally, in Cincinnati's smallest neighborhood. The Village Development Corporation has been loaned $60,000 from people who want to help the organization continue its ongoing work to rehab homes in the neighborhood.
Village Development Corporation board member and Spring Grove advocate Carl Servizzi took the lead in creating the fund, and contacting potential lenders.
"It's just one of several funding sources for the organization's rehab work. With the sluggish economy, traditional bank funding has been difficult to come by," said Servizzi. The fund is a win-win for both Spring Grove and the lenders. The Village Development Corporation has a unique source of funding and lenders will be paid back - with a 5 percent interest rate - over the next three years, according to Servizzi. The Village Development Corporation writes a simple, legally binding promissory note with each lender.
"If you had a CD in the bank for $5,000 or $10,000 you'd be getting less than 2 percent because interest because rates are so low. So a five percent simple interest rate made it attractive when I'm selling people on the idea," Servizzi said.
The Village Development Corporation for more than 20 years has invested in the upkeep, maintenance and rehab of its residential and business district. The organization is currently focused exclusively on rehabbing blighted neighborhood properties. The development corporation then sells the property to homeowners. Homes range in price from $50,000 to $100,000. As a result, people who live in Spring Grove Village take real pride in the community and trust the Development Corporation's work. That shows in the enthusiastic response to the new fund, Servizzi said.
"People respond to the Development Corporation and what we have done for the community," he said, estimating the organization has rehabbed and sold about 20 houses in the past 15 years. The homes are targeted toward lower- to moderate-income homeowners, who are looking for an affordable place to live and raise their families. In recent years many rehabbed properties have been foreclosed homes that were abandoned and fell into disrepair.
"The average homeowner stays in a home for seven or eight years then move on. The people who buy these homes generally stay much longer than that," Servizzi added.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Photography by Scott Beseler.
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