Alliance for Building Communities

Alliance for Building Communities

Doorway to Homeownership Lehigh Valley, Pa.

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What looks like a tidy but unremarkable three-story home in the Lehigh Valley belies its real nature, which is nothing short-of-a-triumph for the Alliance for Building Communities (ABC) and the neighborhood. The house marks the beginning of a concerted effort by the organization to deconvert single homes that had been divided into rental apartments.

ABC's Doorway to Homeownership program is reducing urban density, curbing blight, and providing size-appropriate homes for larger low- and moderate-income families in the center-cities of Lehigh Valley. Housing stock in these inner cities — constructed, for the most part, before 1939 — had deteriorated, and many once-gracious single-family homes had become oversized and deteriorating multiunit rental properties. Through serious effort and a combination of public and private financing, ABC is deconverting selected buildings into spacious three- and four-bedroom homes. The walls erected to divide the houses into cramped apartments are being removed, opening the homes once again to daylight and comfortable family living. New roofs, energy-efficient heating systems, wiring, and fixtures will reduce maintenance costs for years to come.

"Two keys to strong neighborhoods are the quality of housing stock and the affordability of homeownership. ABC's programs in Bethlehem have been crucial to the strengthening of our neighborhoods in both these areas." — Donald T. Cunningham, Jr., Mayor

Through ABC's lease-purchase program, potential homebuyers can overcome problems with their credit and work histories. Many first-time homebuyer families have become new stakeholders in their communities, and ABC has made certain that the revitalizing benefits of the deconversion program will remain. Qualified homeowners must live in the house for ten years, sell it to another qualified low- or moderate-income buyer, or repay a prorated share of the grant money and turn it back to ABC for resale. The reconverted properties have become key factors in stabilizing and renewing their fragile neighborhoods.

View the full Alliance for Building Communities profile .

For more information on the Maxwell Awards, read Ten Years of Maxwell Awards .