Allan Appel Photo
As Bishop Ted Brooks and his son Darrell worked to revamp three historic homes in Dixwell, one of the walls came crashing down. That didn’t stop them from building a spot for a new American dream on a troubled city block.
About 50 people gathered on sunny Friday afternoon for a festive ribbon cutting for three homes at 692, 697, and 707 Orchard St. The houses were rehabbed through the Brooks’ not-for-profit Beulah Land Development Corporation (BLDC).
The houses sit on a stretch of Orchard that has seen a has seen more than its share of the American nightmare of drugs and violence. Houses on that block were once controlled by crack dealers, and an infant girl died when a drug dealer’s bullet struck her through the window of an apartment.
The homes sit just down the block from Brooks’ Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church. The Brooks’ not-for-profit bought up bombed-out buildings around the church and turned them into bright new homes.
Architect Regina Winters preserved the facades of all three houses, as required by their inclusion on the National Historic Register.
A bevy of movers and shakers attended Friday’s event. Following Bishop Brooks, they all spoke words both of high praise and prayer.
In the current harsh economic climate, “Everyone of these [houses] is a victory,” said Mayor DeStefano. He meant both spiritual and economic.
Then, with admiration for the workmanship wrought by builder Brack Poitier and architect Winters, DeStefano went on to joke with Bishop Brooks, “I don’t have a concrete driveway. I don’t have granite countertops. I don’t have a double sink to aspire to. Now I do!”
Those attending included Joan McDonald (in blue at left of cake), the state commissioner of the Department of Community and Economic Development (DECD), whose office gave the BLDC a grant for $450,000 towards these three houses, plus a fourth on Henry Street that was previously completed.
“These are great stories. House by house, block by block [is] how cities come back,” McDonald said.
Other agencies that were part of the financial package underwriting the project included the federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), Empower New Haven, the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund, Livable City Initiative, and the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), which provided seed funding before DECD stepped in.
General contractor Poitier was particularly proud that on this job “90 percent of the subcontractors were Hispanic, African-American, or women.”
He said they found no great historic artifacts or buried treasure. Had he found any, “I wouldn’t tell you about it,” he said.
He added, however, that when they pulled up linoleum at the ruins of 692 Orchard, they found it was lined with newspapers dating from the 1890s.
The biggest challenge, structurally, was when the entire back wall fell down. That sent the developers and builders back to the drawing board on how to continue, maintaining what they could of the historical character, and making it work, and doing it on budget.
After he toured the house and admired the new plumbing in the basement, alongside the original fieldstone foundation, Chief Frank Limon said it was one thing to talk about changing a neighborhood house by house.
When they went back to the drawing board after the wall collapse, “that showed commitment and collaboration,” Limon said.
Keeping the neighborhood safe from crime in order to attract buyers is also a big challenge. Darrell Brooks said that a fatal shooting at Orchard and Charles Street in the spring “spooked” a potential buyer for 692.
He estimated the fair market value for the three houses on Orchard (707 Orchard) is shown in this picture) would range from $125,000 to $165,000. However, they will be marketed to qualifying buyers (those whose income is 80 percent of AMI, or area median income) and therefore sell for somewhat less.
Brooks thinks the attractiveness of the houses will help sell themselves. He said the perceived instability of the neighborhood is indeed a problem, but the investment of so many community groups in the BLDC projects, reflected in the turnout at the ribbon cutting, would counter that.
Next up, Bishop Brooks has an eye on a different kind of project.
“In the 1950s when I was a kid, I’d walk from Starr Street in Newhallville down to Admiral in Dixwell where my father was pastor. There were 15 doctors [offices]. Now not a one.”
He vowed to change all that with a medical complex he hopes develop across from their church.
How close is the medical complex to reality? Brooks said the BLDC controls the large lot across from the church. And the need is great. Of the BLDC’s achievements in the past dozen years, there have been 20 owner-occupied homes, plus the day’s four, and 12 elderly units constructed on Munson at Henry.
To both Brookses, the most compelling new stat is that within 1.8 mile radius from their church there are eight elderly housing units, and not a doctor around.
No surprise, the BLDC is focusing its plans to develop and attract doctors who specialize in geriatric medicine. Perhaps another ribbon cutting will not be too far off.