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<br />Coon Rapids program encourages remodeling on a budget
<br />Article by: BRYNA GODAR
<br />Star Tribune
<br />February 14, 2012 - 2:42 PM
<br />In response to the slouching economy, Coon Rapids is focusing its
<br />Home for Generations remodeling program on affordability this year, hoping to offer realistic examples of development for
<br />homeowners to emulate.
<br />Home for Generations began in 2009 with the goal of encouraging homeowners to invest in their houses and showing them
<br />examples of how it can be done. The city has since bought, remodeled and sold four houses.
<br />Each year, the projects emphasize different styles of development, tackling split-entry houses, ramblers and one story-and-a-
<br />half house. Last year, the remodel looked at green and sustainable remodeling, using recycled paint and solar panels to
<br />make it more eco-friendly.
<br />In addition to targeting owners, the program encourages home buyers to consider options they otherwise would have
<br />overlooked, helping them to envision possible remodels, said Kristin DeGrande, Coon Rapids neighborhood coordinator.
<br />Janice Fulwider, now 57, bought the first house remodeled through the program in 2009. "I wouldn't have given [the original
<br />house] a second thought," she said. But after the remodel, she saw pictures and loved the open floor plan. "It's very unique,"
<br />she said. "This was almost like moving into a brand-new home for me."
<br />This year's project, scheduled to begin next week at 11635 Xavis St., will demonstrate how to do large projects in gradual,
<br />more affordable phases. The main floor plan will be changed, new windows installed, the roofline altered, and a 3/4 bathroom
<br />added, among other changes. The project also will fit a lower budget of $40,000; budgets in past years ranged from $57,000
<br />to $75,000.
<br />"We want to make these projects realistic," DeGrande said. "We're really trying to make the best of the economy right now."
<br />For each project, the program offers open houses before, during and after remodeling. DeGrande said residents have taken
<br />a lot of interest: 1,200 to 2,500 people have toured each of the four houses, she said. The preconstruction open house for the
<br />current project will take place Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.
<br />"It helps [homeowners] to see the remodeling taking place," DeGrande said. "It makes them more comfortable with the
<br />process."
<br />After the city's first remodeling project at 11610 Juniper St. in 2009, 29 remodels were done within a half-mile radius of the
<br />house from May 2009 to July 2011, an increase from previous years, DeGrande said. Driving through the neighborhood, she
<br />added, she could see the projects being replicated on the outside of homes.
<br />Revitalizing the neighborhood
<br />"I think it just gives people ideas that they normally would not have considered or thought of themselves," said Shelly Weber.
<br />Weber bought the remodeled house on 109th Avenue NW. in 2011 and said many neighbors have stopped by to look at it.
<br />"Since I've been here, I've seen a lot of contractors coming in and doing remodeling [in the neighborhood]," she said. "I think
<br />it's a great way to revitalize the neighborhood."
<br />The city hasn't quite recovered its investments in the houses; three broke even while one cost the city about $15,000.
<br />DeGrande said the benefits outweigh this cost, however, in the value of educating homeowners and motivating them to invest
<br />in their own houses.
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