- Justin Fox Burks
- A blighted Northaven home
There are more than 100 vacant, blighted homes in the area bordered by North Watkins, Benjestown, Robertson, and East Circle in Northaven, a community in north Shelby County.
But two of those homes have just received a facelift, and two families will be handed keys to the properties at 5171 Broken Oak Drive and 5036 Blacksmith Drive at a ceremony on Monday, July 29th.
The homes were renovated through a partnership between Shelby County government and the Northaven Community Development Corporation. For the past several years, Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell’s office has been very involved in the revitalization of the Northaven neighborhood.
“Our partnership with the Northaven CDC is a major step towards revitalizing this area of north Shelby County. This time a year ago, these two homes were abandoned and vandalized. Now, they’re remodeled and they give a new look to the Northaven neighborhood,” said Luttrell.
The Northaven CDC, which is run out of Impact Baptist Church, plans to renovate two more houses at 5158 Corkwood Drive and 5306 Braden Drive soon.
The recent renovations and the planned ones are funded through a $36,000 donation to the Northaven CDC from Shelby County government. That money was part of a $600,000 agreement with Wells Fargo after allegations the company gave home loans to people that could not afford them. The money was earmarked specifically to be used for new home loans through Wells Fargo, repairing homes for the elderly and disabled, and for anti-blight initiatives in unincorporated areas of Shelby County.
To read more about the problems faced by residents of Northaven and their efforts to fight back, read this Flyer cover story.
