THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BATTINTO BATTS JR., STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 90 lines
The house was built to help turn around a tough neighborhood, but has fallen prey to it instead.
And the federal government says city taxpayers may wind up stuck with construction and repair bills.
Glass from the shattered back window rests on the ground. Loose strips of vinyl siding sit on the front porch. The air-conditioning unit is gone.
It's even worse inside, where crack users have found a place to hide and get high.
The house at 1500 Prentis Ave. is filled with the smell of human feces on the dining room carpet. There isn't much rug left in the living room. It's badly torn, as if someone tried to take it. Used matches litter the kitchen floor, which is spotted with burn marks.
The house in the Prentis Park neighborhood was built last year by the Portsmouth Community Development Group with federal money it received from the city.
The organization erected the house, valued at $52,860, without having a buyer, hoping someone would be attracted to it.
But PCDG hasn't been able to sell the house, which has been vandalized and repaired several times. It is now secured and ready to be repaired once again.
Created in 1991, PCDG has been beset by problems with management of construction contracts and finances as well as some shoddy early workmanship. City officials, who declined to speak on the record, have said the house on Prentis Avenue is an example of PCDG's troubles and was a contributing factor in their decision to freeze the agency's federal funds.
The Rev. James R. Griffin, an activist in the community, said he warned PCDG not to build the house without a buyer. Community leaders, he said, fought successfully to have an adjacent vacant house condemned because it was frequented by drug users.
``I hate what they have done,'' Griffin said of PCDG. ``They add to the problem we fight to get rid of. Why put a house in a community with no one in it? It opens the door for drug users. That does not help us out at all.''
It's unclear how much PCDG has spent repairing the house, or whether that money came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose HOME program distributes money to cities for community development organizations.
Officials at HUD say the city could be held accountable for any federal money PCDG spent on the house.
The majority of the houses built or refurbished with HOME funds are done without a buyer, said Leroy Brown, rehabilitation specialist in HUD's Richmond office. But Brown said he's concerned about PCDG's decision to speculatively build a house in a tough neighborhood.
``I would be concerned that they are using poor judgment there,'' Brown said. ``The market is limited on who is going to buy it. If the monies had to be repaid, we would look to the city.''
PCDG spent $44,400 constructing the house, and the land is valued at $8,460, city property records show.
The department periodically reviews each city that receives HOME funds. Portsmouth is scheduled for such a review next year. If HUD finds negligence or lack of oversight in the handling of the money, the city could be forced to repay the federal government.
Two audits of PCDG's records, one in January and another in August, raised concerns at City Hall. The city has refused to sign a contract making PCDG eligible for 1996 HUD funds until the organization improves its management of finances and construction contracts.
The city's actions show it is interested in solving problems with PCDG, said HUD's Brown. But Portsmouth is still responsible for money already spent.
Portsmouth officials say they are aware the city may have to repay HUD.
``The city fully understands that we are accountable for HOME funds,''said Marilee Hawkins, director of environmental services for the city.
Hawkins said the city did not discourage PCDG from building the house.
``That's the neighborhood where we are focusing on the spending of HOME funds,'' she said. ``We are putting money in there with the hope that we can bring in good homeowners. That corner is no different than any other corner in the neighborhood.''
The problem, city officials said, is how the project has been administered.
Maury Cooke, president of PCDG, said he hoped the house would help redevelopment efforts in the neighborhood. The organization has built or rehabilitated several homes in the area.
The organization has been close to selling the house numerous times, Cooke said, but each prospective buyer has been scared away by the dealers who hang out on the street in front of the house and the people who cut through the back yard.
Cooke defended the organization's decision to build the home.
``It is a show and tell piece,'' he said. ``Has it worked ideally? No. What do you do with something like that? You try to learn.'' ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
The house at 1500 Prentis Ave. stands vandalized and vacant,
inhabited only by crack users, a testament to the problems of the
Portsmouth Community Development Group. by CNB