City of Englewood will get $50K in federal funds to help the city demolish blighted homes

ENGLEWOOD, Ohio (WKEF) — Montgomery County Commissioners approved 17 of the 23 applications submitted for Community Development Block Grants. This is federal money that allows the county to partner with cities to help them with a variety of projects to improve communities. The City of Englewood is getting $50,000 in grant funding to add to the $100,000 the city is putting in to demolish blighted homes.

Montgomery County Commissioner Deborah Lieberman said these are important funds that the federal government has tried to eliminate in the past when the budget gets tight, but they help cities a lot.

“It’s competitive and you know, it’s a tool that we’re able to really help our jurisdictions with, whether it’s for parks, whether it’s for demolition, other things that the cities may not be able to do on their own, so we’re able to partner,” said Lieberman.

The Englewood Dam Plat area, also known as Morgan Place, was listed as a targeted area on the application, but the application also stated, “The specific location is yet to be identified.”
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The City of Englewood Development Director, William Singer said there was one home in that area, and it has already been demolished. The city will be looking for homes all over the city to use the funds on.

“Those are not typically the houses that are vacant. They’re usually an out-of-state investment company who does not want to put the sweat equity, I guess you would say, maybe into their house like a homeowner would,” said Singer. “So, typically those are the properties that are targeted. Nothing where it’s a owner-occupied situation.”

The Englewood Dam Plat neighborhood has a unique history. Many of the homes were built around 100 years ago. They were meant to be temporary houses for those who were building the dam at the time, but some people decided to stay permanently. Most of the houses are still around today. It is an area with a lot of families, and many of them have kept their homes in good condition.

Once the city identifies areas throughout the city where homes need to be demolished, they will look to acquire them and remove them.

Singer said the hope is that it will provide an opportunity for new structures to be built.
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The city will have until Oct. 1, 2025, to identify properties that need to be removed, with the goal being to increase property values in those neighborhoods and help maintain stability throughout Englewood