Birmingham Land Bank Authority launches new homeownership program to revitalize Fountain Heights
By Marie Sutton
As a civil engineer, Michael Reed can appreciate the art of building things — roads, bridges, and tunnels. These days, it has been especially sweet for him to witness the building of a structure of a special kind: one that will soon be a home for his family. With the help of a new program created by The Birmingham Land Bank, Reed is not only building a house from the ground up but also joining an effort to re-build Birmingham’s historic Fountain Heights community.
“I am extremely excited,” said the 45-year-old father of one. On a sweltering afternoon, Reed joined with the Birmingham Land Bank, Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin and several community leaders to break ground on the land where his home will sit. His is a corner lot, which is a stone’s throw away from an elementary school, and is the newest home built in the Fountain Heights community. It marks the fulfilled promise of the Land Bank’s Accelerated Homeownership Program.
AHOP launched last year with a goal to help 25 individuals become owners of newly-built homes in the historic community. It is a collaborative effort among the Land Bank, a local lender and home builders to create a pathway to homeownership.
“It is a great day to be a resident in Birmingham,” Bonderia Lyons, Fountain Heights Neighborhood Association President, said to the crowd at the groundbreaking. “I ask you to cheer with me. I ask you to celebrate with me and to grow with me as we welcome AHOP and welcome the first of 25 homes coming to our community.”
The Land Bank has partnered with SouthPoint Bank and minority-owned construction companies QS Construction, LLC and PCA Group, LLC for the financing and building of the homes. The Fountain Heights neighborhood was selected for this pilot program because of its proximity to jobs, educational opportunities, healthcare, and government services. Community leaders also expressed a desire to increase the number of homeowners in their community.
“Everybody deserves a home,” said Caroline Douglas, executive director of The Birmingham Land Bank, “from the student who is here temporarily and needs to rent an apartment to the young family who needs a home and decides to buy one and even the unsheltered who needs transitional housing. Everyone deserves that, and so the Accelerated Homeownership Program was born.”
“This is an opportunity for redevelopment, which we deserve, and an opportunity for revitalization, to reimagine Fountain Heights and to dream and help restore and rebuild it into the historic community that it once was,” Lyons said.
Reed’s new home, which will be a 1,500 square-feet structure that should be completed before the holidays, will be the family domicile for him, his 14-year-old daughter, and 67-year-old mother. It has been a treat selecting the floor plan and intricate details that will make his home his own, he said. He was particularly tickled to select a pot filler just above his stove.
But it’s bigger than his home, he said. “My hope is to be a part of the revitalization of the city. I love Birmingham.”
For more information about the Birmingham Land Bank and AHOP, go to www.birminghamlandbank.org.
