New Castle County’s Vacant Spaces to Livable Places initiative seeks to repurpose vacant properties and increase surrounding property values.
When the program launched in 2017, there were 1,350 known vacant properties. Since then, that number has decreased by 53%.
This is in part thanks to changes in State and County law, and the launch of 10-day demand letters.
Those letters go out to unregistered vacant properties with code enforcement violations, fees, multiple complaints and police calls, and property tax owe backs to notify them of a potential monition action.
Those letters have led to many properties staying with their owners following proper registration and the payment of delinquent taxes and fees, with some owners putting their properties on the market themselves.
The remaining properties are recommended for Sheriff’s sale, where they are sold to 3rd party buyers, redeemed, or returned to County ownership.
The combination of letter pay-offs, Sheriff’s sales, and post-monition satisfactions have allowed the County to recover $3.5 million - with $1.7 million going directly to the County’s five school districts.
“The key is disposing of the property to create a positive outcome, and not keeping it languishing as just a sight for the neighborhood, and bringing down property values,” New Castle County Department of Community Services Manager Carrie Casey.
The over 700 properties recovered so far have led to decreased crime, decreased County costs, and the preservation of surrounding property values.
The County-owned properties have gone to good use, as well.
4 were rehabilitated by the County and sold as affordable housing units.
18 have gone to non-profits- including Habitat for Humanity, Interfaith Community Housing, and Duffy’s Hope.
Duffy’s Hope CEO and Founder Duffy Samuels is converting a property in Minquadale to transitional housing for young women aging out of foster care- an effort to combat homelessness in that demographic.
“We're going to house four young ladies aging out of foster care. They're going to learn independent living, we're going to work on their mental health, we’re going to work on job readiness, college readiness, and also life skills.”
There will be a licensed therapist on staff to assist the women, as well as opportunities to get their GED if needed, attend classes at Wilmington University, and create workforce connections.
Samuels adds he plans to expand this program in the future, but will begin with four at a time.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer says seeing formerly vacant properties become tools to help the community is very rewarding.
“Taking a delinquent property, something that was literally falling down in Minquadale - one of the historic neighborhoods in our county and state - and transforming it into this is something we should be proud of. It’s a partnership across county government, with state and federal government, and something we are really proud to do,” said Meyer. “We cannot thank Duffy's Hope enough. We need people on the front lines who are taking on some of the most challenging problems, taking on this property and taking on this issue of assisting girls in foster care who literally have nowhere to go, and providing them somewhere to go. It makes a world of difference for all of us.”
Many of the vacant properties identified by the County were thanks to the help of citizens speaking up. More information on registering and identifying vacant properties can be found on the County’s Department of Land Use website.
