New London — Mayor Michael Passero will be on hand at noon Friday for the dedication of a new three-story, two-family HOPE house at 24 Belden St. that replaced a decrepit tenement known for drug dealing.

"The property was well known to the police and fire department," said Marilyn Graham, executive director of the affordable-housing group HOPE Inc. "It was really very, very blighted."

So HOPE had the 10-unit tenement torn down, even replacing the crumbling foundation. In its place is a brand-new 3,600-square-foot structure with gleaming new kitchens and bathrooms as well as large bedrooms and closets, oak flooring and a large fenced-in backyard.

HOPE put the home on the market two weeks ago, asking $195,000, though the rebuild cost more than $400,000, probably the most expensive project ever undertaken by the agency, Graham said.

The cost includes $15,000 that HOPE paid Chelsea Groton Bank for the note on the foreclosed home, plus $43,600 for demolition. Other costs included nearly $10,000 for asbestos abatement, $8,300 for back taxes and $5,900 for other city obligations.

The project largely was funded through state Housing Tax Credit contributions, with $500,000 in funding coming from Eversource for work on two homes, including 66 Belden St.

"It was important to HOPE to acquire the property in that it was a large blight on the neighborhood that HOPE and others were working hard to restore," Graham said.

This is the 18th house HOPE has completed in the neighborhood, including two on West Coit Street. The agency has two others in the works, at 66 Belden and on Moore Avenue near St. Joseph Church, plus two others planned at 60 and 61 Denison Ave.

"We're doing two to three a year now," Graham said. "We started doing one every two years."

Construction on the 24 Belden St. property began in July 2016, with Dependable Contracting completing the work. The design by architect Peter Springsteel was based on two other similar HOPE houses.

The home must be sold to someone earning no more than the region's median income, which for a family of four works out to an annual income of $82,100. Deed restrictions require the owners to rent one unit to a low-income family, which for four people living together would equate to an income of no more than $45,850.

Another deed restriction requires buyers to resell their home for no more than a 3 percent annual gain, plus the cost of any improvements.

"I think it'll sell quickly," Graham said. "That's because people like the newness and the big space and that it's ready to go."

For information, call (860) 447-0812.

l.howard@theday.com