RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. - March 17, 2020 - The Riviera Beach Community Development Corporation (CDC), champion of affordable-housing in its multifaceted approach to revitalizing Riviera Beach, Florida, has begun moving forward on another property in its Neighborhood RECLAIM initiative thanks to generous funding help from BB&T Bank.

In cooperation with the City of Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County, the Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and others, the CDC has partnered with the City of Riviera Beach Reentry Program to acquire residential properties, renovate and sell them to low-income first-time homebuyers. This Riviera Beach Neighborhood RECLAIM Project property, located at 928 W. 7th Street in Riviera Beach, Florida, will undergo reconstruction with help from BB&T's $20,000 in funding.

Many of the properties in the Riviera Beach Heights neighborhood are in a dilapidated condition. The Riviera Beach CDC is identifying parcels for this program. In addition to renovating the homes and debris removal, Neighborhood RECLAIM will return the properties to the tax rolls via the new first-time homebuyers.

"We are delighted by the generous help that BB&T has granted Neighborhood RECLAIM and the CDC," says Scott Evans, President of the Riviera Beach Community Development Corporation and Interim Executive Director of the Riviera Beach CRA. "With this assistance from our partner organizations and grantors, we can continue to move forward in our efforts to revitalize Riviera Beach Heights."

The Revitalization of Riviera Beach Heights

Riviera Beach Heights is the most challenged neighborhood in the Community Redevelopment District, and $3.5 million has been committed to its revitalization and mitigating internal and external forces negatively affecting the neighborhood. The CRA Board adopted the Riviera Beach Heights Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, Phase I, in 2012, and the plan's No. 1 priority is to address the neighborhood's many derelict and abandoned properties

In Palm Beach County, the median price of housing is approximately $375,000. In Riviera Beach, this number is closer to $250,000, which is still out of reach for many potential low-income homebuyers. The CDC, with programs like Neighborhood RECLAIM, is working diligently to tackle this problem one property and one neighborhood at a time.




For more information, see the Riviera Beach CDC website at http://rivierabeachcdc.org/ and the Riviera Beach CRA website at http://www.rbcra.com/.

Contact
Colleen Hawkins
The MS Factor