Correspondent photo / Sean Barron A groundbreaking gathering took place Thursday for a new Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. home to be built at 605 S. Belle Vista Ave., on Youngstown’s West Side. Among the participants was Mayor Derrick McDowell, in a light-blue shirt.

YOUNGSTOWN — For about 15 years, Nick Serra and other Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association members have implemented and led a variety of neighborhood-improvement projects, though he also is joyous that a few outside entities have come calling.

“We’re happy to see people spearheading new development in this neighborhood. The housing stock here is not great,” he said.

Serra, who has lived on South Hazelwood Avenue on the West Side for about 20 years, was referring to the start of a new home — courtesy of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., the Mahoning County Land Bank and other partners — in the beginning stages of being built at nearby 605 S. Belle Vista Ave., which was the site of a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon.

“We want to make people aware that this is a good neighborhood, and projects like this bolster that,” Serra added.

The specific project to which he referred will, in a matter of months, be a 1,606-square-foot, four-bedroom home that will be constructed in what is now a 15-foot hole containing stacks of cinder blocks.

In addition, the residence will include two bathrooms, an open-concept living room, kitchen and dining room, a first-floor laundry space, a two-car garage and a front porch. The home will be listed for sale upon completion, with a 100%, 15-year property tax abatement for new construction, Ian Beniston, YNDC’s executive director, noted.

Supporting the work to a significant degree is American Rescue Plan dollars from the city.

Construction will be finished later this year, and the listing price could be around $225,000, he said, adding that the location also is close to Mill Creek Park and sits on a sizable lot.

Youngstown-based Joe Koch Construction Inc. is the builder.

In addition, the home is going up where a blighted house had been razed about 10 years ago. The project also ties into a 10-year neighborhood plan the YNDC developed that includes placing properties in the land bank’s hands — with neighborhood stabilization and blight elimination being key goals, Beniston explained.

“For me, this represents growth for this neighborhood,” he said.

The South Belle Vista Avenue home also represents growth across the city and beyond, for which YNDC and its partners are at the forefront. Specifically, Thursday’s groundbreaking came amid a recent such event on the East Side, as well as eight new homes in Struthers that are being built, finished or are nearly completed.

In addition, the West Side residence is following the completion of six homes in that part of the city, all of which have been sold.

The cluster of YNDC groundbreakings and ribbon-cuttings across the Mahoning Valley coincides with a heavy construction season, along with several grants that have been awarded for the work, “so we’re trying to move full steam ahead,” Tiffany Sokol, YNDC’s housing director, said.

The timing of the South Belle Vista Avenue home also is when the first round of construction is wrapping up and the second phase is getting underway, Sokol explained.

The new home represents neighborhood stabilization, something that is needed and is a deserved standard citywide, Mayor Derrick McDowell said in his remarks Thursday.

No such work is possible in isolation, but relies heavily on partnerships and the community working together, city Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said, adding that no vision for the property existed when the previous home was torn down.

“We’re in this for a very long time,” Deb Flora, the land bank’s executive director, said.

The frequency of gatherings such as the one Thursday also shows that the MCLB and its partners are doing their best to bring new and affordable homes to and around the city, Flora added.

“We want new people. It’s good for everybody,” Serra said.