Renovated Residence: Land Bank, CHRIC Partner To Rehabilitate Foreclosed House By: Dennis Phillips, Post-Journal

On Friday, officials from the county land bank, CHRIC and the city of Jamestown visited the renovated house along Hazeltine Avenue. Gina Paradis, county land bank administrative director, said the land bank purchased the home during the county auction as part of their Rehab 4 Sale program. After purchasing the home at the auction, Paradis was contacted by someone interested in purchasing the house. Now that there was an interested buyer in place, Paradis contacted CHRIC officials to work on renovating the house.

Joshua Freifeld, CHRIC executive director, said through their Acquisition-Rehab-Resale Program, the home was renovated for under $57,000. He said the roof, electric, heating and driveway were all repaired. He added they acquired the house in April, and by June had sold the residence to the new homeowner. Freifeld said through a state grant, CHRIC has been able to purchase and remodel four foreclosed houses and now has sold all of them to new homeowners.

''The goal of the program is to make the houses code compliant,'' he said.

Mark Geise, land bank executive director, said everyone on the board plays an integral part in taking a foreclosed house, not on the tax rolls, and turning it into a liveable residence for a new homeowner. '

'Everyone is excited to be on board,'' he said.

Peter Lombardi, land bank board chairman, echoed Geise's statement that everyone working in collaboration at the Land Bank, CHRIC and for the city of Jamestown has led to a positive outcome for the Hazeltine Avenue neighborhood.

''This is a great example of everything coming together,'' he said.

Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said he recently spoke to Eric Schneiderman, state attorney general, who said the county's land bank is a model for the rest of the state. The Land Bank received a $1.5 million grant from the state Attorney General's Office in 2013. Then, in 2014, Schneiderman awarded the land bank a second grant of $1.3 million. The money is for assisting state land banks in rebuilding and restoring neighborhoods hit hard by the housing crisis.

''You guys are being recognized as one of the best (in the state),'' Teresi said.