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Photo By Doug Trapp
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Address: 842 Monmouth St., Newport
Owner: Linda G. Proffitt
Value: $50,000
Year Built: Very early 20th century
Comments: The plywood-covered storefront at 842 Monmouth St. might be the ugliest on Newport's main drag.
But there is hope for this building, the old furniture store to its north and the old Trixie Delight strip club to its south. The Newport Housing Authority is converting both of these buildings -- the three storefronts are tied to two properties -- into a 43-unit mixed income project evenly divided between market rate and affordable housing, according to George Darnell, Hope VI coordinator for the Newport Housing Authority.
The housing authority could close on the sale of both buildings in March for $237,000 after two years of work, Darnell says. Both are owned by the same person, he says. However, she uses the name "Herthel" on the ownership records for 844-46 Monmouth, the old Trixie Delight building, according to the Campbell County Property Valuation Administration (PVA).
Attempts to contact Proffitt in person and by mail were unsuccessful.
The sale didn't happen without a fight, Darnell says. Proffitt asked for about $150,000 more than the housing authority wanted to pay. A court settlement produced the price of $237,000. The buildings' combined appraised value is $200,600, according to the PVA.
The project is the first of seven scattered-site Hope VI projects the housing authority is building to replace 202 units of public housing north of Third Street, Darnell says. The housing authority is building a total of 313 units in the seven projects.
A complaint led the city to cite 842 Monmouth in March 2001 for not being secured. Pigeons in the building had been defecating on the sidewalk, according to code enforcement records. Proffitt paid the $30 fine within the mandated seven days.
BLIGHT OF THE WEEK is an effort to highlight the problem of abandoned buildings -- and who's responsible for them.
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