Committee approves $26,000 transfer to expand Home Repair ‘home swap’ pilot in Tireman–Joe Louis Greenway

The Planning and Economic Development standing committee on Thursday approved an amendment to transfer $26,000 from phase 1 to phase 2 of the Home Repair Home Swap pilot, allowing the program to renovate three additional land-bank houses in the Tireman–Joe Louis Greenway neighborhood.

Rico Razzo, chief of Home Repair Neighborhood Services in the city’s Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD), told the committee the pilot originally renovated three homes and placed families into the fully renovated houses. “This is a pilot project in the Tireman–Joe Louis Greenway neighborhood,” Razzo said, and the transfer will fund renovations of the three homes the pilot families moved from so other eligible households can benefit.

Razzo said the project has multiple partners, including Bridging Neighborhoods, the Rocket Community Fund, the Gilbert Family Foundation (via Enterprise Community Partners), United Community Housing Coalition and Renaissance of Hope. He described the approach as moving owner-occupant households into fully renovated units while using additional grant dollars to renovate the homes they vacate.

A motion to approve the amendment was made and, with no objections, the committee carried the recommendation to approve. The approval was taken by the committee as a unanimous procedural voice vote (the record in the transcript shows the motion and the chair’s recurring phrase “hearing no objections, that action shall be taken”).

Next steps: HRD will implement the transfer to phase 2 so the next three houses can be renovated under the pilot and the program partners will continue work identifying eligible owner-occupant households.