Camden begins identifying abandoned properties to fix up

After enduring more than a decade of failed efforts to tear down or repair 2833 Concord Ave., neighbors were thrilled to see Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd put a legal notice on the house in Cramer Hill house labeling it abandoned.

Thursday's ceremonial posting was the first step in what's expected to be a six-month process to turn the deteriorated, light-blue house over to the Cramer Hill Community Development Corp. for rehabilitation.

The community group will then sell the house at market value to one of the hundreds of people on the neighborhood's waiting list for housing.

"Incredible. I still can't believe it," neighbor Antonio Jimenez said.

For six years, he has lived in the house next to the blighted Concord property.

The legal posting is part of the process in the state's Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, passed in 2004 and ignored by city officials until this year.

More than 30 adults and several schoolchildren turned out for Thursday's ceremonial event to watch Redd post the bright-orange legal notice on the Concord property. City workers had posted the rest of the notices earlier in the day.

In April, Redd announced that Camden's new Business Growth and Development Team would handle all inquiries about vacant properties from interested developers and annoyed neighbors and speed the process of condemning or saving them.

So far, the team has received 154 property proposals, all from Cramer Hill community groups. Of the 91 properties inspected so far, 59 have made the cut to be put on the abandoned-properties list, City Attorney Marc Riondino said.

Properties on the list are not occupied or on demolition lists or subject to liens under the Tax Lien Financing Corp.

It wasn't until recent years that local groups, such as Camden Churches Organized for People and the Cramer Hill development group, started pushing hard for use of the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act. The act gives the city power to hold a special tax sale, accelerate foreclosure of tax liens, and use spot-blight eminent domain to turn over properties to entities that will rehabilitate them in accordance with the city's master plan.

The Cramer Hill development group hopes to start working on 20 houses from the first batch once it gets clearance from the city Legal Department and Division of Planning and Development.

"The difficult portion is we haven't been inside these homes yet to see" how extensive the renovations need to be, said Manny Delgado, executive director of the group. Officials estimate each property could cost $100,000 to fix up.

The rehabilitated properties will be sold at market value, ranging from $85,000 for a rowhouse to $130,000 for a three-bedroom, single-family house, Delgado said.

The group awaits $1 million from the state Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program to use toward its rehabilitation project.

Depending on how much annual funding the group receives, Delgado hopes to fix up about 20 houses a year through the abandoned-properties list pipeline. However, any developer or resident can submit a plan to the city development team to acquire any of the properties on the list.

If all goes according to plan, Delgado and his team will begin working on 2833 Concord and 19 other properties in November.

"If the building has a roof, we can jump right in" and work through the winter, he said.