Habitat receives three donated lots

Palm Coast Observer
News

Palm Coast’s Prosperity Bank is trying to turn a business problem into a community solution: Rather than sell two vacant lots it has acquired via foreclosure, it has donated them to Flagler Habitat for Humanity.

The lots, at 21 Buttonbush and 12 Uline Place, were worth a combined $104,000 in 2006. Now, they’re worth a total of $19,000.

“It would be nice to have that ($19,000) come in as income, yes, but this is something we want to give back. Our motto is ‘Building our Community,’” Prosperity Bank Senior Vice President Garry Lubi said. “We can’t do this on every lot, but we saw this as an opportunity.”

Lindsay Elliott, executive director of Flagler Habitat for Humanity, said this is the second time in two months that lots have been donated to the cause.

Claire Mosenthal, of Washington, D.C., has owned a lot in the B-section since the 1980s. For the past few years, she has been considering donating it to Habitat. The tipping point was reading a story in the local newspaper.

“When I spoke to her, she took a copy of the Palm Coast Observer with the story about Stephen Rende and said, ‘For any tax donation that I may have lost, knowing that my donation of a property is going to change a family’s life has more value,’” Elliott said. “I’ve already had a family choose the lot, so I’m going to send her a picture of the family.”

No Habitat homes were built in Palm Coast from 2003 to 2008 because of high housing costs. Instead, they were all built in less expensive areas in the county.

“To be able to put them in established neighborhoods where they can raise their families and pass it on to their children is a great thing,” Elliott said.

Lubi said he is seeing signs of the real estate market improving. New filings for foreclosures are down. Prices are starting to creep back up in select pockets of the city. And the first two quarters of 2011 were the best back-to-back quarters in three years for the company — even with the donation of the two lots.

“My rule of thumb for a house built in 2005 or 2006 is to take 75% to 90% off the value,” Lubi said. “We still have a long way to go, but at least the trend now is up.”