NEW ORLEANS, LA - Despite a downturn across national housing industry sectors, CityView, headed by Executive Chairman and former US Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, is making the dream of homeownership a reality for hundreds of working families impacted by Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans area. Cisneros has joined with New Orleans developer Stewart Juneau, CEO of leTriomphe Property Group to establish a private developer/non-profit partnership that includes Our Castle Homes and the non-profit groups American Sunrise Communities and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). The partnership has created the largest home ownership program for working families who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina by making two and three-bedroom homes available under a model lease/purchase agreement in a neighborhood close to some of the most heavily-damaged areas of New Orleans.
"Our partnership has implemented an innovative way to bring together the interests of housing developers and non-profit groups by working at the grassroots level to provide critically-needed housing and financing options as Hurricane Katrina's anniversary approaches," said Cisneros. "Ultimately, this partnership will empower the area's residents by enabling more than 300 families to move from renting and temporary housing to owning a piece of the American Dream - their own home. After more than two years, decent housing priced reasonably remains the single greatest need for those who were directly impacted by the devastating hurricane."
In May, 2007, the NEW ERA partnership announced the transformation of The Gates on Manhattan, a wind-blown, water-damaged apartment complex into homes for working families in desperate need of housing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects. Shortly after the announcement, consumers around the country and in New Orleans were faced with a credit crisis that made qualifying for mortgages to buy the homes nearly impossible.
The attractive financing available to Gates residents make it possible to own a home for far less than the average rent for comparable units in the region. Financing is made possible due to the non-profit partner NACA. NACA is bringing home financing to families that traditionally might be unable to obtain mortgages, including those with FICO credit scores in a range beginning at 500. While lending institutions have been reluctant to work with families with scores below 680 as a result of the national home financing crisis, NACA provides both credit counseling during the term of the program participants' leases and standard, 30-year mortgage financing at one point below market rate once the credit issues have been resolved.
"Our Castle Homes' mission has always been to make housing affordable for working families," said Mike Wojciechowski, CEO of Our Castle Homes, Inc. "That's why we are working with partners like American Sunrise Communities - an organization whose mission is to provide struggling American families with access to safe, decent affordable housing and new economic growth opportunities. Providing homes for less than a family would pay in rent is demonstrates our commitment to rebuilding and enhancing the lives of New Orleanians and families in the surrounding communities who were so heavily impacted in August, 2005 by Hurricane Katrina."
Source: Business Wire