An estimated 200 of the 2,000 homes here — one in 10 — are vacant, like the one at 4598 Metlic Drive that Schmitt and her husband watched deteriorate after it was sold and resold, eventually becoming a rental property.
The neighborhood has been home to General Motors and other blue-collar workers and retirees struggling with higher taxes and tough economic times, she said.
“Most of them are just middle-class people trying to stay afloat,” she said.
Schmitt welcomed news that CountyCorp, Montgomery County’s nonprofit economic development arm, is buying 15 foreclosed homes in her neighborhood, bordered by Ohio 201 and 202, Chambersburg Road to the north and Longfellow Avenue and Kitridge Road to the south.
The organization is rehabilitating the homes to resell them to middle-income owner occupants who qualify. Money for the project comes from the $5.9 million the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Montgomery County to rebuild a weakened housing market and stabilize hard-hit neighborhoods.
CountyCorp received $3.39 million and is setting up stabilization programs in Huber Heights and seven other jurisdictions with a high concentration of foreclosed properties: Riverside, Miamisburg, Miami Twp., West Carrollton, Trotwood, Harrison Twp. and Jefferson Twp.
Adam Blake, CountyCorp’s housing development manager, said the target areas still are considered good places to live because of the school systems or other positive factors.
“The amenities are in place for a community that would be desirable to live in,” he said, “but the foreclosure properties are pressing down property values.”
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