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GENE STOWE
South Bend Tribune Correspondent
February 3, 2008
In 1917, Homeland was the first subdivision annexed into
the city of South Bend. City water came in the 1990s.
"They had city sewer but no city water," says Michael
Urbanski of Garden Homes, which started developing in
the area in 1994. "They wanted more housing in the city.
They ran city water down here."
Street and sewer improvements, creative use of the lots,
affordable housing, mortgage grants and borrowing
programs for first-time home buyers have brought the
historic tract into the 21st century as an affordable, livable
neighborhood.
"I love it here," says Joe Schidler, who had lived in an
apartment. "The neighbors are really nice. It's a decent
neighborhood. Last July, we all got together to get to know the neighbors. We were all kind of new
to the neighborhood. Our street is a really good, nice, quiet, decent street. I plan on staying here."
Leroy Yoder's Garden Homes put 76 new houses in Homeland, including 18 on Meade Street
between Ewing and Calvert, where there were only six houses. Another landowner added two
modular homes.
They built 23 houses on Prospect Street, Urbanski says: "The houses all look a little different. We
put a few two-stories in here."
Wabash Street, paved six years ago, has two lots available.
The improvements led residents to upgrade their own property.
"When this neighborhood built up, other houses were pulled up," Urbanski says.
After five-year tax abatements, the project added to the city's property tax revenues. Houses that
sold for $75,000 in 1994 are now worth about $100,000.
"Most of this land we bought on a tax sale," Urbanski says. "No taxes were paid on 85 to 90 percent
of this land. It's paying for itself."
Developers found creative ways to organize the vacant land and avoid the appearance of a cookiecutter
subdivision. Three 40-foot lots were combined for a large house for Logan Center.
"We did a bunch of replatting of the lots," Urbanski says. "We wanted to make everything look
different. We wanted to do this to be affordable. We wanted to create not houses but homes for a
neighborhood."
The developers, who built three spec houses on Meade and two on Calvert, devised ways to put the
same floor plan onto lots that were 40, 60 or 80 feet wide. Buyers could choose, cafeteria-style,
what to add to the basic plan that had one bathroom and a one-car garage.
"Our belief is to get people into decent, affordable housing
-- to give people their needs, not their greeds," Urbanski
says.
The developers also worked with city officials to bring
services where needed, such as granting sewer easement in
backyards to keep from having to dig up the street.
"Private and public can work hand in hand," he says.
The program is paid for by the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development to reduce the amount of
money low-income, first-time home buyers must borrow.
The St. Joseph County Consortium distributes the money.
This year, the grants are $17,000 in South Bend and
$15,000 in rural areas. Janet Ditmire, executive director of
the Housing Assistance Office Inc. that administers the
grants, says seven or eight are still available this year.
MFB has developed programs for the borrowers that
reduce their costs, says bank official Judy Reimbold.
"It's really rewarding when you can see someone take that
dream and turn it into reality, provide decent housing for
themselves and their children," she says, adding that the
combination of Housing Assistance grants and Garden
Homes affordable construction boost the quality of life.
"It's a real marriage between all three of us to try to put
some opportunities out there."
The first-time home buyer grants, forgivable in 10 years,
are recorded as second mortgages, so owners can't take out another mortgage and go into too much
debt, keeping down foreclosures in a market where many other home buyers are losing their homes.
"A lot of these people are original people," says Urbanski, adding that a significant number of
buyers are in the medical field, such nurses and nurses' aides.
Norma Jones, who moved two years ago from Indian Springs Apartments, says she was nervous but
happy about buying her first home.
"It was new territory, but it was exciting," she says, adding that she likes the neighborhood. "It's
kind of a rural feel to it and pretty quiet. I like that. I'm not a big-city person. I've met my
neighbors."
Joe Schidler is three minutes from his job and happy with his house.
"I was looking to buy a house anyway," he says. "Every house wasn't what I wanted. Then I came
across this where I could have a house built. The rooms were the size I was looking for. It has a
basement. I can finish it myself."
GENE STOWE
Tribune Correspondent
February 3, 2008
