‘This Old House’ comes to Hendry Street
By Laura Crimaldi | Monday, May 11, 2009
Fifteen months after Hendry Street became a bleak symbol of how the national foreclosure crisis ravaged Hub neighborhoods, the recovering block starts fresh today with full-court press from City Hall and “This Old House.”
The watershed do-it-yourself program will visit Hendry Street this afternoon to film Mayor Thomas M. Menino for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the renovation of two triple-deckers on the foreclosure-battered street.
“This is a great example that there’s hope in those neighborhoods where foreclosure has devastated some of the properties,” said Menino.
Menino formed a Foreclosure Intervention Team and vowed to wipe out foreclosure-related blight in February 2008 after the Sunday Herald exposed how the national housing crisis had turned the block into a blighted ghost town.
Last year, the city spent $314,000 to buy four foreclosed triple-deckers there. Those properties were sold to Roxbury-based Bilt-Rite Construction, which has finished renovations on two of the triple-deckers.
The homes at 15 and 17 Hendry St. will be put on the market soon and are geared to owner occupants, said Bilt-Rite president John Sullivan. They have new high-efficiency heating, plumbing and electrical systems, and new bathrooms, kitchens and front and rear porches.
Potential buyers could qualify for up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers and historically low interest rates.
“It’s a great, fully renovated property,” said Sullivan. Renovations at the other two triple-deckers will wrap next month.
The Hendry Street ribbon cutting will provide the setting for coverage by “This Old House” of the renovation of a foreclosed property in Roxbury.
The show decided to feature the Woodbine Street project as part of its 30th-anniversary celebration, said producer Deborah Hood. The WGBH program got its start in 1979 by renovating a run-down Victorian on Percival Street, which is separated from Hendry Street by Bowdoin Street.
“This is the city where got our start. It’s interesting and also sobering,” said Hood. “These same neighborhoods still need attention.”
Roxbury-based Nuestra Comunidad Development Corp. paid $90,000 to buy 42-44 Woodbine St. from Countrywide Financial last month, said executive director David Price.
The two-family home will need significant work to repair fire damage, replace plumbing systems and correct problems with the foundation. Viewers can chart the progress on a webcam at thisoldhouse.com beginning today.
Price said Nuestra plans to sell the fixed-up property as two, affordable single family homes.
“I think it’s going to be a real boost for the neighborhood,” said Price. “The neighborhood gets a negative image in the press, but there are a lot of positive things going on.”
