Abandoned or blighted properties in the Lower 9th Ward could be scooped up for $100 (or less!) apiece if an amendment gets the seal of approval. The Times-Pic reports that the proposed Lower 9th Ward Redevelopment Act, backed by Rep. Wesley Bishop, would allow the city to sell the properties for less than the fair market value to private buyers. Before the dollar sign in the eyes syndrome sets in, let it be known that large-scale developers and those interested in lot-flipping are out of luck here. The bill would include specifics in the sale contracts preventing this. The target audience for this program? Former residents of the neighborhood who are still trying to return after Hurricane Katrina, non-Lower 9th Ward dwellers interested in buying property, and Lower 9th Ward residents who moved here after the storm and "want to expand their footprint."
"I hate to say this but certain parts of the Lower 9th Ward look like a zoo. There's no way in the world we can sit here nine years after the storm and allow the Lower 9th Ward to be in the condition it is, because five years from now I think you'll have a neighborhood that's dead. I'm from that neighborhood and I'm not going to let that happen," Bishop told The Times-Pic.
· Proposed amendment would allow city to sell abandoned Lower 9th Ward lots for $100 [NOLA.com]