Investor Pumping Millions Into Blighted Properties
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn initiative to renovate more than 150 abandoned homes is underway in central Indiana. California-based Mt. Helix Real Estate Investment Funds LLC is investing more than $12 million to breathe new life into blighted properties. Chief Executive Officer Joe Nelson says the purchases involve houses that don't generate a lot of interest. He says most of the properties have been uninhabited for five years or more. October 21, 2013
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Mt. Helix Real Investment Funds, LLC, has begun its rehabilitation of 103 homes in central Indiana during a large-phase renovation, returning abandoned or unoccupied homes to livable status for rent or purchase.
Renovation of the properties, most of which were purchased in a July county surplus sale, are targeted for completion in the next 90 to 120 days.
Mt. Helix is an expanding presence in the central Indiana market returning blighted Marion County homes – and those similarly affected in neighboring communities – to livable and affordable properties.
Currently, 153 homes owned by Mt. Helix in Indianapolis are in the renovation pipeline, according to Company CEO Joe Nelson. “We have a long-term strategy with communities that are coping with large inventories of blighted properties,” Nelson said.
Josephine Rogers, executive director of the Martindale-Brightwood Community Development Corporation, said her experience with Mt. Helix has proven to be a successful and innovative partnership.
“Mt. Helix is a pioneer,” she said of the company's investment strategy that is a new model for the city of Indianapolis. “They are here for us and we work collaboratively to make our community more attractive for new businesses and economic development opportunities.”
To date, the company has invested more than $10 million of through acquisitions and renovations in Indianapolis alone.
Renovations in the current phase of rebuilding may include: new plumbing, fixtures, paint and drywall; repairs or replacement for heating, cooling and water systems; electrical upgrades; new carpet and flooring; window, door and roof repairs; addition of updated appliances; exterior trash removal, landscaping, porch repairs and painting.
This renovation phase is just the start of Mt. Helix’s investment in the city of Indianapolis.
The company also recently purchased 146 tax certificates of mostly abandoned properties in a tax sale conducted by the Marion County Treasurer's office. Once Mt. Helix becomes the official owner of those properties, the company will implement the same rehabilitation strategy.
Indianapolis residents are already taking advantage of the Mt. Helix properties and seeing improvements in their neighborhoods.
Kevin Horne, a longtime Riverside neighborhood resident, has owned his family home since 1989 and said Mt. Helix is “rehabbing and getting new neighbors in.”
“Mt. Helix coming in is only a positive,” Horne said of his transitional neighborhood on the city’s near west side. Horne, who has spent his career in the military, has witnessed the transformation of several homes on his street – properties that had long been empty or neglected.
Mt. Helix properties in Indianapolis rent for an average of $650 a month for a 2-3 bedroom home.
“Our transitional neighborhood approach is working both for investors and neighborhoods,” said Nelson. “Options for updated and affordable living are enhancing the city's base of quality housing at affordable rates in challenged neighborhoods one street at a time.”
About Mt. Helix
Mt. Helix Real Estate Investment Fund's national, single-family home focus is to acquire distressed residences through bulk purchase sales with the intent to hold and manage the properties. Purchasing multiple homes in transitional neighborhoods both revitalizes and improves the individual assets and city neighborhoods. Mt. Helix is based in San Diego, Calif., with offices in Indianapolis, Ind., and New York City.
Source: Mt. Helix Real Estate Investment Fund LLC