Brad Pitt announces plan for rebuilding in lower 9th Ward

From the Times Picayune:

In a novel and ambitious effort to return New Orleans homeowners to their own neighborhood, an international consortium of architects led by film star Brad Pitt announced plans Wednesday to develop at least 150 storm-safe, environmentally sound houses in the section of the Lower 9th Ward reduced to rubble by a massive levee breach.

Working lot by lot instead of amassing huge development tracts, the project, dubbed Make It Right, will take applications from homeowners who want to rebuild their own properties with model homes now being designed, said Virginia Miller, a New Orleans spokeswoman for the project.

"Make It Right isn't buying big parcels of land," she said. "We don't have an interest in being a developer. We have an interest in building houses for people."

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With the average home expected to cost between $100,000 and $174,000, planners anticipate most homeowners will be able to contribute some cash for construction but that most will fall about $70,000 short of paying off their new homes, according to a program dossier.

As a result, Make It Right plans to offer forgivable gap loans of as much as $100,000, with the caveat that applicants must have owned a home or lot in the Lower 9th Ward before Katrina. No homeowners who participate in the program will pay more than 30 percent of their gross monthly income on house payments, documents show.

Homeowners will be expected to contribute money from insurance proceeds, savings and Road Home grants, and to investigate their options in the traditional mortgage market. But Miller said a large loan reserve will be available, financed largely by contributions of $5 million each from Pitt and Steve Bing, a film producer and philanthropist who inherited his family's real estate fortune.

SNIP

In conceiving Make It Right, Miller said Pitt and others sought advice from Lower 9th Ward residents, in part by attending meetings of nine community organizations, including ACORN, Common Ground Relief and All Congregations Together.

Here is a link for the Make It Right website

Comments

[FeralLiberal]

How dare some Hollywood liberal show the government how things should get done!

[DerelictDaughter11]

A-friggin-men. It's a shame this has to come from anywhere other than the federal government, but good on Pitt and everyone involved in making this happen. It sounds like the way things should be done - especially the piece about ensuring that no household pays over 30% of their income toward monthly housing costs.

[DerelictDaughter11]

Er, although, that requirement can very well keep people from being eligible to participate in the program...I still think it's an important piece. And it sounds like the program is built to provide viable funding options and keep that shelter cost gap to a minimum. Soooo, there's my afterthough addition. Still yay on Brad. :)