This rundown Dwight Street building has been empty for over a decade, attracting nighttime vagrants and creating a pocket of darkness on a bright and pleasant street. Now, to the delight of neighbors, Neighborhood Housing Services wants to fix it up.
At a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Tuesday night, NHS submitted a proposal to turn the boarded-up eyesore at Dwight Street and Edgewood Avenue into a two-family home. One unit would be owner-occupied; the new owners would rent out the other unit.
Over the years, the corner has held everything from a novelty gift shop to a laundromat, said City Plan staff. The property — two lots, actually, with two adjacent buildings — abuts a neighborhood garden called Rainbow Park. City officials reckon the crumbling structure has been boarded up for over 12 years.
Neighbors have long been petitioning for someone to fix up the lot. Craig Siriani (pictured second from left), who owns a house across the street, said the building is notorious: Its door was kicked in and the floorspace used by squatters. He’d like to see the place revamped, with new tenants to “keep the creepy-crawlies” away.
Siriani and neighbors asked Neighborhood Housing Services to take a look. The non-profit agency agreed to buy the land from the city, rehabilitate the space and turn it into affordable housing with a built-in garage for each unit.
City Plan staff welcomed the proposal and recommended BZA approval for several setback variances.
BZA Chair Eduardo Perez, Jr. breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday. He’d seen many proposals for the corner fall through over the years. Everyone agreed the spot was an eyesore. “I’m glad to see a neighborhood consensus” on how to fix up the lot, he said.
The BZA will vote on the project within the next three to four weeks. Neighborhood Housing Services hopes to get the property and start work on the house next spring, said the agency’s representative, Henry Dynia (pictured above at left).