As part of Community Development Week, City staff are holding an open house on April 2 from 2-3 p.m. for a formerly blighted home in the Holston Hills neighborhood located at 4508 Plymouth Drive.

The original property owner passed away in 2000 without a will. The property was certified as blighted by the City's Better Building Board in 2006. The home's ceilings had fallen and crumbled in almost every room of the house. An appraiser determined the structure had no contributing economic value.

The City obtained the property via eminent domain in 2011 with a deposit of $10,000 to Circuit Court. The property was sold through the Community Development Department's Homemaker Program on May 4, 2012, for $17,500. In addition to the cost of the property, the new owner has invested in excess of $90,000 in rehabilitation dollars.

It is now is a beautiful 1,620-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 car attached garage home with gorgeous hardwood floors, granite countertops, new roof and HVAC along with upgraded plumbing and electrical with nearly 1/3 acre of land. It is listed for sale at $168,000. This is just one illustration of how the Homemaker Program helps private buyers turn problem properties into neighborhood assets.