Improving Lakewood’s Neighborhoods, One House at a Time

The city’s effort to improve the local housing stock recently continued its forward progress.

A refugee family from Burma is moving into a Birdtown home that the city bought to renovate and sell to a motivated and qualified family.

The property had been tax delinquent when the city bought it in 2013, and paid off the tax lien. The city purchased the 91-year-old Quail Street home using federal money, earmarked for this purpose.

This project is one of four — all in Birdtown — in which the city has purchased, renovated and sold to help improve the neighborhood. During the past three years, the city has successfully acquired, rehabilitated and sold approximately a dozen homes to new Lakewood families. That includes two new-construction projects.

“This is part of our city’s aggressive housing strategy,” said Mary Leigh, the city’s programs manager in the department of community development.

“Typically, the city doesn’t invest in real estate, but these federal funds allow us to intervene in the market where we can have the highest impact.

Moo Thain Da, a refugee from Burma, moved to Lakewood with his family about four years ago. They recently settled into their new 1,500-square-feet bungalow.

“Lakewood is a good place, great for raising kids and for a quality education,” said Moo Thain Da. “We’re grateful for the incentives that Lakewood has provided, particularly the First-Time Homebuyer Program. We’re happy to be here.”

The other homes that are part of this initiative are located at 2070 Dowd; 12217 Plover; and 2147 Dowd.

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The Lakewood HOME Program provides one of the best mortgage financing packages available to qualified first time home buyers interested in purchasing a Lakewood home. Assistance, which comes in the form of a 0% interest, no monthly payment second mortgage is used to assist with both down payment and closing costs. For more information about the HOME program, visit the city’s website.

As a city with a population of more than 50,000 people, the city of Lakewood is a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement community. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities and counties to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons. For more on the Community Development Block Grant program, click here.