Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz were joined by city officials Wednesday for a celebration at a home on Calumet Place in Buffalo.
It was the first home sold through the Building Buffalo Roots program, which is transforming vacant properties in the city into affordable homes for low-income families.
Ryan expressed excitement as more housing opportunities are becoming available in the City of Buffalo.
"What an exciting day to be here," he said. "So across Buffalo, we have vacant lots where homes once stood, empty houses that needed investment before somebody can live on them again. At the same time as that, we have all these vacant lots. We have families struggling to find a quality home that they can afford. Bringing those properties back to life — it's an important part of addressing our housing challenges."
Poloncarz said teaming up with Ryan on projects like this helps strengthen communities.
"When one spot becomes vacant, you often will see more than one location in a neighborhood become vacant, and then it goes into this downward spiral where you continue to see the neighborhood degrade," Poloncarz said. "And we wanted to stop that through the program, and that's what was done, especially here in the City of Buffalo, is to identify locations where we needed to build new homes to fill those that used to exist."
The first family to take advantage of the Building Buffalo Roots program was the Walton family. Jacqueline Walton expressed gratitude for her new home and the people who helped make this happen.
"I call them my angels in disguise because they pushed for me to get this home because I didn't see this as possible, especially as a single mom," she said. "So I'm just thankful for this. Thank you all, and I can't wait to move in. And many blessings and celebrations here from me and my son, Aiden."
Poloncarz and Ryan gave the Waltons housewarming gifts, as Poloncarz supplied them with new household items and Ryan gave them a new tool set.
There is a mixture of two- and three-bedroom homes in University Heights, Black Rock, Riverside, the lower West Side, and the First Ward neighborhoods. The two-bedroom ranch-style homes are roughly priced at about $175,000, and the three-bedroom homes are around $205,000.
To qualify for the program, your household income has to be under $81,690 annually. The application process includes two months of income verification, your last two years of tax returns, a mortgage pre-qualification, and, if you're working with a real estate agent, Belmont Housing will need the buyer's agreement.
On Saturday, there will be an open house at three of the models in the city of Buffalo from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Members of Belmont staff will be there to help interested homebuyers through a tour. The tours will be at 766 East Amherst St., 449 Berkshire Ave., and 66 O'Connell St.
A total of 21 Building Buffalo Roots homes have been listed to date, with 15 already sold or under contract. An additional 24 homes were listed Wednesday.
For application questions and materials, eligibility requirements, and a complete list of available homes, click here.
