Organization hoping for city help revitalizing Omaha neighborhood
By John Chapman
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The Omaha City Council will decide whether or not to participate in a redevelopment plan in north Omaha at their meeting on Tuesday.
The plan calls for 22 new single-family homes to be constructed in the Kountze Park area, between Sahler and Evans streets and between North 18th and North 24th streets.
The city could help by approving $405,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) to help the project along.
Habitat For Humanity will replace dilapidated homes in the area with brand new units.
They have already constructed close to 50 brand new homes in the Kountze Park area.
“It was full of dilapidated houses, burned out homes. Some were drug homes, some were just houses that were empty and squatters were living in them, and that doesn’t do anything good for the neighborhood, for safety and property values,” Ken Mar with Habitat For Humanity said.
Instead of building one house here and there, the organization is working build eight to 10 homes in one block and then repeating the process over and over again.
“We used to go into neighborhoods and do infill housing, where we would do one or two in a block. We found that one, it was not a sustainable model, and two, it didn’t do anything good for the neighborhood because we were replacing two houses in a neighborhood full of rental properties,” Mar said.
Melissa Ramurs lives in the area and is happy to see it change for the better.
“When they start building these new ones, I see all these new ones out here on the other street. It makes the neighborhood look better,” Ramurs said.
The results have been promising in other neighborhoods.
Cynthia Stubblefield lives in a rebuilt neighborhood and said the new homes along with home ownership help to make the area better.
“I actually love the idea of having new homeowners because it means they will take care of the property,” Stubblefield said.
If the city council approves the TIF designation, Habitat For Humanity will start building next year.