By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — A grant in excess of $500,000 was approved last month with which the city will rehabilitate six to nine houses for reoccupation.
“It’s a substantial amount of money,” Mayor Joseph Kuspa said of the award, administered through Wayne County as part of the federal Housing and Economic Redevelopment Act. “This is the first time Southgate qualified.”
Under the grant, Southgate will use $515,000 to purchase and rehabilitate abandoned or vacant properties. Once complete, the county works with residents who fall below 50 percent of the area’s median income toward home ownership.
Kuspa announced the grant acquisition at Wednesday’s city council meeting, and said the target group of the grant is for seniors and veterans, and that once the specific properties have been identified, application information will be made available on the city’s web site, www.southgatemi.org.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])