The Real Deal

By Sharman Egan

Lagniappe columnist

If you’re looking to buy a house in Mobile in the next year or so, and especially if you want something under $150,000, you may want to consider the Hillsdale neighborhood next to the USA campus.

“Hillsdale,” you say. “Are you crazy?”

Hillsdale is best known as a rundown 1960s subdivision owned by and adjacent to the University of South Alabama. This is all about to change if the folks at DASH for the Gulf Coast have anything to say about it. DASH stands for Dependable, Affordable, Sustainable Housing, and that’s what they want to provide in Mobile.

A non-profit organization based in LaGrange, Ga., DASH is purchasing 182 lots and 62 houses in Hillsdale. They are planning to build 280 houses there, priced from $80,000 to $150,000. In their free time, they will build another 340 houses in Pascagoula. They’re also looking at Baldwin County. Now we know why they call it DASH. These guys make NASCAR look like a Sunday drive to Citronelle.

So I had to find out more about their plans. I mean, I call a handyman and he says he might be able to get to me in two months. And these guys are going to build 620 homes in the next few years? In Mobile and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? Yeah, right.

After meeting with Walter Hendrix, president and CEO of DASH, and David Johnson, executive director of DASH for the Gulf Coast, I think they might just pull it off. But how?

Their answer: modular homes. Now before you think “Wow, that’s just what we need – a big ‘ol trailer park right next to USA,” visit DASH’s Web site at www.dashlagrange.com and click on “Featured Homes For Sale.” You’ll see charming Craftsman-style bungalows with big front porches, beautiful kitchens and quality details. The houses will be modified for the local Mobile market, but the preliminary plans they showed me were equally charming.

Hendrix, who has built over 8,000 for-profit homes, explained that it takes 3,000 labor hours to put up a stick-built home like the ones DASH is planning. A comparable factory-built home – same size, same quality, same building codes – takes just 400 labor hours. At $15 per hour, this translates into a cost savings of $39,000. And, of course, they can put them up fast.

DASH is negotiating with several modular home builders to provide the first houses in Hillsdale. But their long-term goal is to build their own modular home factory, perhaps in the Mobile area. When DASH buys homes from an outside builder, it gets around the local labor shortage but the manufacturer keeps the cost savings as profit. If DASH had its own factory, it could pass along much of the savings to buyers, as well as fund future development.

But DASH isn’t just about providing a roof over someone’s head. Hendrix and Johnson were quick to point out that their mission is “re-neighboring.”

“Buyers with choices will not choose to live in a rundown area with crime and drugs,” says Johnson. “But an area like that can become a neighborhood of choice again. That’s our goal in Hillsdale.”

DASH uses a variety of methods to revitalize neighborhoods. First, their homes are designed to help build community. The houses in Hillsdale will be close together with front porches and sidewalks to make it easier for neighbors to get to know each other.

Another factor in building good neighborhoods is leadership. DASH will actively recruit leaders, such as schoolteachers, police officers and firefighters, by offering incentives in exchange for a commitment to provide services to the neighborhood. For example, a teacher might receive down-payment assistance in exchange for working 20 hours per month in an after-school program.

DASH will also provide services to help buyers purchase homes, including counseling for credit problems and down-payment assistance.

“If someone has the income to buy a home, we think we can get them a mortgage,” says Hendrix. “It may take them a while, and they may have to do a lot of work, but we can help.” DASH’s Homeownership Center on Government Street in Midtown will begin offering home-buying orientation sessions in November.

Does it all sound too good to be true? Maybe. But I’m betting the DASH folks will do most of what they say they’ll do, and they’ll make a big difference in Hillsdale and Pascagoula.

DASH’s local effort is Katrina-driven. They expect many of their buyers to be people who have relocated to Mobile from areas hit by the hurricane. While these buyers are their first priority, their houses in Hillsdale will be available to any owner-occupant who can qualify for the mortgage. Their target market also includes USA employees, people relocating to Mobile for new jobs and the general public. A sales center with furnished models is scheduled to open by Dec.15. They say construction will start in mid-November and homes will be ready for occupancy in January.

If only Dr. Bronner had hired these guys, we’d be having a cocktail in the bar at the Battle House Hotel right now.

For more information on the new Hillsdale community and DASH for the Gulf Coast, call 251-438-7800 or go to www.dashgulfcoast.org.

Sharman Egan covers real estate and business for Lagniappe. Her e-mail is sharman@sharmanegan.com

Archives