| Remodeling work has started |
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| Wednesday, 11 February 2009 | ||
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Managing editor Work began Monday on remodeling the first home acquired by the Coon Rapids Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) for the city’s Home for Generations program.
But before the work began this week, an open house was staged at the 11610 Juniper St. N.W. home Sunday by the city and Lennox Builders, the contractor hired by the HRA to do the remodeling work, to allow people to see what shape the house is in before the transformation as well as drawings of Lennox’s remodeling plans. Between 200 and 250 people attended the open house. “That was an excellent turnout, more than we expected,” said Kristin DeGrande, city neighborhood coordinator. “There were a lot of people from the neighborhood curious about what was happening.” But there were also people from other cities at the open house to get some remodeling ideas for their homes. For example, Carl and Deb Anderson stopped by the house. They live in a 1957 rambler in Roseville and wanted to take a look at the remodeling plans for the Juniper Street property. The Andersons plan to come back to an open house when the remodeling project is complete to “get some ideas for our house,” according to Carl Anderson. In addition, staff from a couple of cities interested in Coon Rapids’ new program stopped by, DeGrande said. The current size of the 1955 rambler, located north of Northdale Boulevard and west of Foley Boulevard, is 808 square feet, according to Sean Lennox, Lennox Builders owner. The remodeling and new construction will increase the square footage to just over 1,000, Lennox said. The floor plan submitted by Lennox proposes opening up the home by moving some interior walls and building an addition to the back of the house. In fact, Lennox will be “blowing back” the back wall some 10 feet to create a mud room and add new kitchen space, Lennox said. The existing two bedrooms will be reconfigured to open up the home and a third bedroom will be built in the basement, which is presently only partially finished with a family room, he said. And the front of the home will be “bumped out” to create a front porch to the front door, Lennox said. “It will be a greeting area,” he said. New windows will be installed throughout the home and the existing stairs will be removed and replaced with new stairs that meet code. As well, the furnace will be replaced with a new high efficiency model, hard surface flooring will be installed throughout the upstairs and existing hardwood floors will be refinished where possible. The basement will be carpeted and new linoleum will be put down in the bathrooms. Lennox has spoken with the original homeowners, who purchased the house for about $4,000 in 1955 and moved out in 1963, but still live in the Coon Rapids area, he said. “They told me about an original cabinet that is still in the house that I hope to incorporate into the remodeling,” Lennox said. The remodeling work, which will be completed in May, is an opportunity to be creative on a smaller budget, he said. Lennox’s remodeling contract with the HRA carries a $60,000 price tag, including the materials. The HRA purchased the vacant and foreclosed property for $92,500. The list price was $94,900. Once the remodeling work is finished, the city will host a series of open houses to showcase the remodeling work before putting the home on the market. DeGrande anticipates the sale price will be in the $150,000 to $170,000 range. “We are not looking to make a profit just to offset the acquisition and remodeling costs,” she said. Indeed, the proceeds from the sale will go back into the HRA account to be used to buy more foreclosed and vacant homes and remodel them for sale, according to DeGrande. In fact, the city has made offers on two more vacant and foreclosed homes, also ramblers. One for $95,000 on a home at 11010 Yukon St. N.W. did not materialize because the home was sold to a private buyer. But DeGrande said that an offer of $80,000 made by the city on a home a couple of blocks away at 11219 Bittersweet St. N.W. has been accepted. The HRA, which comprises the seven members of the Coon Rapids City Council, will be asked to approve the purchase agreement at its Feb. 17 meeting. Once approved by the HRA, closing would likely take place in two weeks, DeGrande said. And if the HRA elects to retain Lennox Builders to do the remodeling work on this home, work could start as early as late March, according to DeGrande. Like the Juniper Street house, the property on Bittersweet Street, which is located a couple of blocks north of Coon Rapids Boulevard, has high visibility, a major HRA criteria for purchase, DeGrande said. “It’s a good location,” she said. According to Marc Nevinski, city community development director, the Home for Generations project is designed to demonstrate how 1950s and 1960s era homes can be updated to meet the needs of modern families. Michael Hunstad, a realtor with the Coon Rapids office of Counselor Realty, has been hired by the HRA to market the remodeled homes. He has also been involved in the property acquisitions and the remodeling plans, DeGrande said. The hope is that up to four properties can be acquired in 2009 for the Home for Generations project. Existing dollars in the HRA budget are being used to purchase and remodel the properties. The city is also looking to purchase Cape Cod story-and-a-half homes and possibly in the future, split level homes, which were built in the 1970s and 1980s, for the program, according to Nevinski. “Homes that are facing or have fallen into foreclosure are ideal candidates for the program as rehabilitation of such homes will stabilize neighborhoods and allow for a larger project budget,” Nevinski said. Candidate homes must be structurally sound and be remodeled in such a way that value is added to the property, he said. Cape Cod and rambler homes remodeling plan books, which were funded by Coon Rapids and other metro area cities some years ago, will be used as the starting point for each remodeling plan, Nevinski said. No timeline has been set on how long the program will run, he said. But it is anticipated that it will be ongoing at least until the housing market revives, Nevinski said. Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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