City considers giving vacant property to Ulster YouthBuild
Aldermen are considering transferring a vacant property on Sycamore Street to the Ulster YouthBuild program, which would use the land to build a home that ultimately would be sold to a low-income first-time homebuyer.
Ulster YouthBuild Executive Director Bonnie Landi told the Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 29, that her program trains young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are out of school and do not yet have their high school diplomas. She said the program is holistic and focuses on education, job skills training, fulltime case management, leadership development and job placement. The job skills training comes through the construction portion of the program, during which the young people work on homes, Landi said.
Ulster YouthBuild has been rehabilitating and building houses in the city for more than 20 years, Landi said. The program is currently working on a house on Emerick Street, which will be the 25th building completed, she added.
“The housing that we do, which is a byproduct of the program ... has to be sold to a low-income first-time homebuyer,” Landi told the committee. “I’m proud to say that over the 24 houses that we’ve done over 20 years, only one homeowner has moved and sold the house to someone else.”
Landi said Ulster YouthBuild recently received a nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to fund the program’s operations for the next three years. The funding, however, cannot be used for materials to build or rehabilitate homes, she added. Landi said Ulster YouthBuild was asking the city to transfer to it the vacant property at 51-53 Sycamore St. so a new home could be built there. The materials for the construction would come from Ulster YouthBuild LLC and from a grant through the state Office of Children and Family Services, she said.
“We have to raise money for the materials for the house because we’re not allowed to use any of the funds that we get for the materials,” Landi said, “so, we’ve already raised the funds to do this house.” She said a condition of the Department of Labor grant is that Ulster YouthBuild must show it has ownership of the property where the program would build its next house.
The committee ultimately moved forward a resolution authorizing the property transfer. That resolution must still be voted on by the full council, which meets again on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
City Comptroller John Tuey said the Sycamore Street property had been taken through foreclosure and there was $3,593.52 in back taxes owed on the land.
Alderman Tony Davis, DWard 6, said Ulster YouthBuild is a great program because it puts properties back on the tax rolls, provides homes for first-time homebuyers and provides a career path for young peo
ple. He said he has watched the progress on the Emerick Street property, near where
he lives, and sees the young people doing the actual construction work. Davis said he supports the Sycamore Street property transfer because he has seen the potential of the YouthBuild program first-hand.
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