ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY plans to build two blocks of new homes between 10th and 11th streets and Norfolk and Jackson avenues in Southwest Roanoke.
A salvage yard considered one of the worst eyesores of Roanoke's West End is to be transformed into a development of single-family homes for the working poor.
Habitat for Humanity of Roanoke Valley has acquired the property as part of a bigger plan to build two blocks of new homes between 10th and 11th streets and Norfolk and Jackson avenues in Southwest Roanoke.
The salvage yard was owned by Ren Heard, a well-known renovator who once worked as the master builder for the Explore Park and is now facing a 10-year prison sentence for statutory rape.
Since 1985, he has stored old house parts - columns, fireplace mantels, bricks and windows - on the property. And he has taken heat from residents who have complained that the salvage yard has contributed to the neighborhood's blight.
Habitat plans in the next year to acquire other property in the same area, eventually creating a 20-home community of affordable, single-family housing, said David Camper, president of Habitat's board of directors. It could become the largest project in Habitat's 10-year history, he said.
``We want to be real careful that we don't call our houses 'low-income,''' Camper said. ``We build quality homes. The difference is that the people who buy them are low-income.''
The Roanoke Valley's Habitat affiliate has built 53 homes for the working poor since 1986. Two more are under construction on Camille Avenue off Salem Turnpike Northwest.
Because so much of the labor and materials is donated to Habitat, houses valued at $40,000 to $50,000 can be sold to families for about $33,000. Buyers - who are required to put hours of "sweat equity" into construction of their homes - must make a down payment but pay no interest. Payments are about $200 a month for a 20-year term. They are deposited into a revolving fund that supports the construction of more houses.
Habitat bought Heard's property with $90,000 in HOME grant funding, money that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sets aside for housing for low- to moderate-income people. Habitat received an additional $50,000 in HOME funding to pay for demolition of abandoned homes on the salvage yard property and for clearing.
Heard, who heads Renovation Specialists, Inc., a contracting business that specializes in restoration work, has until May to move the salvage parts off the property. Habitat then will begin demolition and grading to create a new street and home sites. House construction probably won't begin until the fall of 1997, Camper said.
Heard has had a longtime interest in revitalizing the neglected West End area. He bought the salvage yard property in 1985, after a 76-year-old woman froze to death in one of the 10 small houses on the property. The homes were built at the turn of the century as housing for railroad track gangs.
"I am more than happy to see Habitat take a strong interest in the property, particularly in view of home ownership," Heard said. "Too many rental properties were being put in that neighborhood. Unfortunately, when you start to get a large number of rental houses in an area, you start to have tenants who don't care.''
Habitat officials contacted Heard in 1994 about buying the property with a goal not only of building houses but to help the city, Camper said.
"It was one of the most visible places, being right on 10th Street," he said. "We could take care of an eyesore and put income-producing houses back on the market."
Roanoke officials were receptive to Habitat's proposal.
"The city has worked with Habitat for several years reimbursing some of the expenses for building houses," said Dan Pollock, Roanoke's housing development coordinator. "But this was the first time they'd approached us on a project like this and asked us to participate. Ultimately, we decided it would be a good thing for the city to spend our money to clear what had been a problem site."
Roanoke received $651,000 in HOME money for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Habitat plans to apply for an estimated $150,000 in HOME funding to buy other property near the salvage yard, Camper said.
Property negotiations were interrupted last year after Heard was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The Habitat project was mentioned at a bond hearing months after Heard's sentencing. Heard and his attorney argued that he needed to be free on bond to wrap up his business affairs.
"I needed to take care of all my undone projects so if worst case comes along and I do have to go into incarceration, I've taken care of all my responsibilities," Heard said. "I was right in the middle of these arrangements."
Heard, whose business has offices in Roanoke, Bedford County and Northern Virginia, has been free on a $50,000 bond awaiting appeal.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE DAVIS-KLEIN/Staff. This series of old houses,by CNBoriginally built near the turn of the century for railroad track
gangs, is set to be transformed into modern housing by Habitat for
Humanity. The organization plans to get under way in the fall of
1997. 2. Homes like this one had recently been used by former
Explore Park master builder Ren Heard to store salvaged building
materials, mostly wood. color. Graphic: Map by staff.