ANAHEIM : City To Renovate 10 Historic Homes

As part of continuing efforts to improve the historic quality of downtown Anaheim, where many old homes and buildings were razed years ago to make way for new development, the city plans to renovate 10 houses in the area.

The single-story craftsman-style homes will be restored under a $1-million plan approved by the City Council this week.

Under the agreement, the city will sell the homes to a local developer and the nonprofit Anaheim Historic Preservation Foundation. Once the finished residences are resold, the city will receive 25% of the revenue, and the two agencies would share the remainder. The historic foundation will use its share to establish a fund for other neighborhood improvement projects.

Although the homes and lots are being sold to the developers at about half their market value, the city was willing to take the loss to set up the new historic improvement fund.

“We realize this is under fair market value . . . but the proceeds will go for rehabilitation and preservation of other neighborhoods,” Lisa Stipkovich, executive director of the redevelopment agency, told the council.

The homes are scattered throughout central Anaheim, including some on Kroeger and Cypress Streets. City planners want the homes to complement Lincoln Village, a nearly 400-unit housing project that will be built near City Hall.

Richard Bruckner, a community development official, said that rehabilitating the homes is part of the city’s effort to retain parts of older neighborhoods as it builds the new one.

He pointed put that Lincoln Village will not be a gated community, but a development that will be integrated with the area’s older homes.

Some of the homes covered by the agreement have been moved to central Anaheim, and others, such as those on Kroeger Street, are being restored in their original locations.