Miracle on Donaldson Road
This Saturday, at 85 Donaldson Road, you'll be able to see the fruits of the labors of ICE (Investors Committed to Excellence) in the form of one beautifully rehabbed house. (See before shot in full story.)
President/CEO Gregory Boles began ICE after having an epiphany of sorts. "I realized that I could make good things happen, one property at a time, with the help of a lot of people and some money, so that's what I did," Boles says.
Though Boles says his is not a religious organization, he credits a higher power for giving him the impetus to begin. And begin he did. His business model was as simple as getting others to see and invest in what he felt it was his duty to do. This Saturday, he'll have an open house on site, with all of the participants, in order to show what a community effort can bring in the form of a now valuable and liveable house on the city's East Side.
"The vision is to transform communities by transforming the minds, hearts and souls of people who are living inside and outside of the walls of the approximately 480 churches in the City of Buffalo. In return this would transform lives and communities, inspiring church goers to go forth in love and meet the neighbor where they live," Boles states.
On the business end, he has a lot of interest in what he's doing. Everyone invested in the house will continue on to the next projects, rolling the money over as the rehab effort grows exponentially. "Other people want to get involved, but I don't know how to do that just yet," Boles says, though he thinks other groups could start anew with his model.
His investors include plumbers, carpenters, roofers, electricians, etc., who've formed a collective in which they help each other too. "We call it the 'ICE price'," Boles said of the discounts given to do work within the group.
Completed in one year, Boles says, "It took a year to go through the process of getting everyone together and getting them to work together, but that's part of it, and then it's all good."
It's an interesting concept, and it could pave the way to creating work as well as rebuilding neighborhoods.
Boles is calling this Saturday's open house a social networking event, so bring your interest and your business cards and come and see what a small army with good intentions can accomplish.
Saturday
3PM to 6PM
85 Donaldson Road
Buffalo, NY 14208
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Comment Options
sbrof
Nice work! This is another one of those pockets in the East side that are stable and the worth time and investment. I hope to see more articles about housing rehab instead of housing demolition in the years to come.
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whynot
great job!! One down, 9,999 more to go.
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Harvey
Good work Gregory. See you Saturday.
Harvey
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Tiburon1724
Needs a new roof.
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pegger
It appears to have one. Something wrong with it?
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Kernwatch6
While Donaldson is a tidy street of modest bungalos, it is far less stable than it looks. Many houses on the street have foreclosed & some highly troubling speculators & flippers have moved in.
For example, the notorious Parlato flipper-family has purchased & flipped three Donaldson houses. J&F purchased 69 Donaldson in foreclosure for $10K in 11/22/04, immediately flipping it 1/22/04 for $20K to a foreign investor, who 'dumped" it 9/7/07 for $15K to never-before-seen "Swarthmore Properties LLC", who immediately flipped it on the same date for $68K to Robt & Dawn Hunter (owner-occupants?).
The house is still assessd at $46K, while mortgaged for nearly $70K, making it vulnerable to foreclosure like so many other Parlato flips.
There need to be better mechanisms to monitor 'good flippers' (who profit while adding value) Vs 'bad flippers', who profit while setting up the neighborhood for future decline & speculation.
BTW. As I recall, 85 Donaldson was purchased last year in foreclosure for $18K in run-down condition. What is the asking price of 85 Donaldson following its rehab?
COPY: deed info on 69 Donaldson:
07/08/2003 - 00:00 AM 11045 9772 F- Foreclosure 0 Sale Price: Sales Condition: Parcel No.: $37,935 0 - 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deed Date: Deed Book: Deed Page: Deed Type: Valid Sale: 11/25/2003 - 00:00 AM 11063 5035 B- Bargain/Sale 0 Sale Price: Sales Condition: Parcel No.: $10,000 (J&F Property Resource, PARLATO) D - Govt agency 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deed Date: Deed Book: Deed Page: Deed Type: Valid Sale: 01/22/2004 - 00:00 AM 11067 600 W- Warranty 0 Sale Price: Sales Condition: Parcel No.: $20,200 (To Israel Landau, foreign investor-speculator) 0 - 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deed Date: Deed Book: Deed Page: Deed Type: Valid Sale: 09/07/2007 - 00:00 AM 11134 2877 W- Warranty 0 Sale Price: Sales Condition: Parcel No.: $15,000 (to SWATHMORE PROPERTIES LLC, only Bflo-buy) 0 - 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deed Date: Deed Book: Deed Page: Deed Type: Valid Sale: 09/07/2007 - 00:00 AM 11134 2945 W- Warranty 0 Sale Price: Sales Condition: Parcel No.: $68,000 (to HUNTER ROBERT L & Dawn) 0 - 1
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pegger
Poor Mr. Hunter!
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