This is another example of heavily taxpayer-subsidized housing development that is clearly unsustainable.

And it is occuring in the context of the fast-approaching city tax sale on Oct 20-22, when a record breaking 4,580 distressed or abandoned Bflo properties are on the auction block.

Why would the city heavily subsidize folks in a shrinking impoverished city to move where nobody lived when Bflo was more than 2X larger? And on toxic land no less!

Further illustrating its folly, 10 of 11 buyers so far are from Bflo, not buyers from afar adding to Bflo's ever-shrinking numbers. That means that 10 more Bflo houses are likely to go vacant, insuring that taxpayes will possibly face the demolition of 10 more houses.

Taxpayers build, then taxpayers demolish . . . sound policy??

From BfloRising:

http://buffalorising.com/story/first...ore_villag#sca

First Phase of Sycamore Village Nearly Sold-Out
Today (9/29), 12:01am By West Coast Perspective


The first fifteen homes in the Sycamore Village development are nearing completion and eleven are sold. The subdivision at the corner of Sycamore Street and Jefferson Avenue will ultimately include four subsidized and 20 market-rate units. First move-ins are scheduled for the third week of October.

“Nine of eleven market-rate and half of the subsidized homes are sold,” says project realtor Keith Barnes of Barnes Real Estate Group Inc. The project appears to be tapping pent-up demand. “We have done very little marketing,” he says. The market-rate homes are priced from $165,000 to $188,000 while the four subsidized homes are priced in the $155,000 to $165,000 range.

Barnes is not surprised by the strong sales to date. He has been selling new infill homes for several years and says a few custom, market-rate homes built on nearby blocks have sold for even more. Ten of the buyers are existing city residents and one is from Hamburg according to Barnes.

Nine styles of homes featuring three or four bedrooms and 1,400 to 1,700 sq.ft. of living space are being built. Most of the residences have rear-loading garages, many accessed from Sydni Alley, a new alleyway cutting through the site. The homes have arts and crafts style exteriors with covered front porches and cultured stone accents.

A park-like lawn area with a decorative pedestrian walkway in the interior of the block will offer a secure commons flanked on both sides by the front porches of adjacent homes for young children to play and neighbors to gather.

Sycamore Village is being constructed on a former brownfield site. New York State contributed over $500,000 to the remediation of the property. Homes being built by Lamparelli Construction and were designed by Dean Sutton Architects.

Get Connected: Keith Barnes, Barnes Real Estate Group, 716.894.5324