Uncommon improvements: Meadville nonprofit offers tour of development sites

Apr. 3—Outside, a scaffold stretched across the front of the two-story home, framed by two extension ladders along both sides and with four newly installed windows peeking out from behind. Inside, a crew in the downstairs apartment was installing new kitchen cabinets — but they could only distantly and occasionally be heard upstairs, where another crew was offering a tour of a nearly finished three-bedroom apartment.

The busy scene a few days ago at 306 Poplar St. was emblematic of something larger taking place in several easy-to-miss spots around the city of Meadville — work being led by affordable housing nonprofit Common Roots.

Individually, the projects range from possibilities to planning stages, near-completion to open and operating. Together, they're part of a multifaceted strategy — one designed to help low-income residents while putting a dent in the city's low home ownership rates and building community wealth.

"This is a great example," said Brandon Frantz, co-owner of Sturdy Boots Construction, the six-employee company that he and partner Alex Lilley launched in cooperation with Common Roots two months ago. "Poplar Street is not the best known street in Meadville."

The comment came inside a completely renovated living room that looked better than it had in decades — a sharp contrast to just a few years ago when the house at 306 Poplar featured bare plywood across much of its facade. By the time Common Roots purchased the property from Meadville Redevelopment Authority for $4,595 in October 2022, the home was vacant and had been condemned.

Today, the property is ready — or at least nearly ready — for its closeup: Future residents have picked out paint colors, all-new appliances have been installed upstairs, and move-in day is approaching. When they move in, they will become part of Common Roots' renting cooperative, working together to manage and maintain the property on a day-to-day basis while building what the organization calls "rental equity" over the long term.

With that and other efforts in mind, Common Roots will host a self-guided tour on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. featuring projects in various phases of conception and completion with organization staff, volunteers and residents on hand at the stops to introduce the properties and answer questions.

"There's a lot going on at Common Roots," said Julie Wilson, the organization's executive director, who joined Frantz and Lilley for a preview of the Poplar Street house on Friday. "It seems like an important time, with all this going on, to say if you want to understand how all this fits together, come see the work that's happening."

Other stops on the tour include 304 Prospect St., where visitors can learn about three homes being readied for an affordable home ownership program aimed at working-class families; 662 William St., where visitors can see the nonprofit's next renovation project before it gets started; 1189 S. Main St., location of the first completed Common Roots project, a four-bedroom apartment house where the renting cooperative has been in operation since last summer; and 778-780 Water St., site of the recently demolished Humphrey's Master Cleaners Inc. and Jones Plumbing and Heating Inc., where Common Roots has proposed development of six townhouses.

On Poplar Street, both units feature all new mini-split heating units, wiring, WiFi, washers and dryers, and more. Rents are expected to range from $650 to $725 for the two three-bedroom units — well below typical market rates. As they pay monthly rent, tenants who meet certain requirements, such as paying rent on time, attending monthly meetings and performing maintenance-related tasks, are able to build up to $10,000 in financial credits over 10 years.

Tenants are selected without background or credit checks, Wilson said, just income checks to confirm they qualify for low-cost housing. Instead of credit checks, they are required to attend meetings and workshops in which they learn how the renting cooperative works and demonstrate their commitment to being part of it.

In addition to the tenants at the South Main Street apartment house, 11 others have finished the process and are waiting for units to become available, according to Wilson. Another 15 are working their way through the process and 60 more have expressed interest.

The organization's growth has been both impressive and challenging.

Two years ago, the only Common Roots-owned property was the South Main Street location across from Second District Elementary and the nonprofit had no full-time employees.

Today, Wilson said, it owns eight properties in the city and is near closing on three others. Another eight parcels are in various stages of acquisition. Common Roots has also added Wilson, a former Allegheny College professor, and two other full-time employees in addition to partnering in the construction business.

Sturdy Boots and the professionalization of what had previously been volunteer-led renovation efforts has been instrumental in Common Roots' growth, according to Wilson. When what were expected to be minor renovations at 306 Poplar St. turned into major repairs, major delays were avoided.

"We had everything down to the studs," Lilley said with a glance around the upstairs apartment. "Downstairs wasn't even framed — there were no doors."

The construction company hopes to train people for long-term careers just as the housing program helps people on the road to secure, long-term housing.

"Me and Brandon liked the mission," Lilley said of Common Roots, "and we decided to join forces."

After lessons learned during the several years spent on the initial South Main Street project, Wilson said the organization hopes to move more quickly. Much of the motivation for creating a new pool of construction labor and a pipeline of affordable housing options comes from what Wilson expects to be a "once-in-a-lifetime investment" of federal and state funding over the near future.

"If our community is not organized to bring that money in and we don't have people skilled in those trades and we don't have the workers to do it," Wilson said, "folks aren't going to be able to take advantage of those rebates.

"From my perspective," she added, "we can't move fast enough."

YOU CAN GO

Common Roots will host a self-guided tour of project sites on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Participants can pick up maps at the Common Roots office, 1011 Liberty St., or find one online at . Community members are invited to learn about the organization's work and programs firsthand through visiting with staff, volunteers and residents at different locations.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.