New Hope For Vacant Hill Lot

"She is unsure of whether she will live there or rent to tenants." Let's face it, if she has $15K to plunk down on a building lot and "she previously purchased a property in Bridgeport at auction, and sold it last year", she's not planning to live here. She's likely a speculator. Good for her - that's the American way. Bad for New Haven. Bad for New Haven because we need people who will buy and live in New Haven as homeowners, and settle down in New Haven. Home ownership makes for strong neighborhoods and creates a sense of community.

Dennis Serfilippi
https://www.ournewhaven.org/

Its good that someone showed up for the event, did her homework, and bought the lot with the intent to build low income housing. Last time I checked, New Haven needed affordable housing for those displaced from downtown upmarket redevelopment.

She's an immigrant, working hard, doing good for herself and New Haven. New Haven needs more folks like Silvia Di Carlo. It should be front page news.

Why is it "Bad for New Haven" for someone to buy a vacant lot and build housing on it?

Brewski: it's bad because New Haven needs more people who own AND live here. People with 'skin in the game'. More small home owners. I'd be thrilled if she built and lived in the property. What we don't need is more absentee landlords who build low-income housing and then take the profits with them to the suburbs.

Dennis, there are plenty of bad absentee landlords (my house abuts a building owned by one of them). But there are also plenty of decent absentee landlords. Should the city keep foreclosed properties vacant and off the tax rolls until an prospective owner-occupant turns up?

Speaking of tax rolls, the property is currently appraised at $46,400. Either the couple got a real bargain, the property was seriously over-valued, or some combination of the two.

Kevin: I agree. There are good and bad absentee landlords. I am both a homeowner and an absentee landlord in New Haven. I am an absentee landlord to my parent's property in Edgewood where I was raised, and lived for 55 years. The property (and neighborhood) has special meaning to me and I treat it as such. Many of my childhood friends do the same. That's because there is a personal connection to the property, neighborhood, and neighbors who still reside on the street. Unfortunately, I've seen absentee landlords (with no personal connection to a property, the neighborhood, or their neighbors) buy a house and 'milk' it. They let the property get run down (deliberately in SOME cases), cause the value of neighboring properties to decline in value and then purchase those properties at a discount. it's called busting a block. Rinse, repeat. Meanwhile, the neighborhoods and communities, the fabric of our City is destroyed.

I am, of course, not suggesting the City keep vacant properties off the tax rolls until a prospective owner-occupant turns up. It's not a binary choice. The City is in control of the property. it ought to facilitate home ownership - not rentals. The New Haven Housing Authority recently spent $300K per unit on the Farnam project. We have more than $1 billion in debt. We just gave away a prime commercial plot on Ella T and Legion to build rentals. Surely, we can find the money to support a program that helps long-term city residents who now rent, purchase a property.

If your home abuts a property owned by a bad absentee landlord, please email me the details.
We're starting a program to identify and hold these folks accountable - legally, of course. LCI has failed in this respect

Dennis Serfilippi
[email protected]
https://www.ournewhaven.org/