Many people are starting to fill out applications, hoping to land a new house in the Arts District.
It's a project called Homes of Evansville and developers hope it will help bring new life to the downtown area.
Thursday, 14 News talked with an applicant who says she's excited, and is hoping to move her family into a new home. It's a good opportunity, she says, or renters possibly looking to own a home in the future.
"This is a project that's kind of in conjunction with or complimentary to the new homes that are being built under what used to be called front door pride," said Executive Director of Hope of Evansville Thomas Coe.
In the near future, 40 families will be calling new, two-story houses downtown "home."
Applicant Lameshia Mitchell hopes one of those homes will be hers.
"Being a renter all my life and not being able to own a home, I feel that this would be a great opportunity not just for myself but for the whole community," she said.
The new homes are made possible through federal low-income tax credits. It's a project Hope of Evansville, the city, and NRP, an Ohio developer, are working on together.
Hope of Evansville says applicants must be within 30-60% of the area median income. They say, the homes can be rented and then sold after 15 years.
The organization tells us there are eight home designs, in a variety of colors, all energy-efficient.
"We designed the homes so they're all unique, they all look different," Coe said. "We didn't want a cookie cutter approach."
Those features are appealing to applicants like Lameshia, who hopes to rent, and someday own, a home with her three children. Lameshia says she thinks the city and Arts District will benefit from new life and new families living downtown.
"To have people with a sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride, as something to want to come down here," she said.
Some homes will be the first ones finished, in about a month and a half.
To fill out an application, you can stop by the Hope of Evansville Office in the Walker building on Sixth Street. For more infor on applying, you can call 888-467-9134.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
The single-family homes in several downtown neighborhoods will be available for rent, and then can be sold in 15 years.
