Norwich — Members of the committee that oversees the city’s effort to get developers to renovate blighted, abandoned properties checked off another success story this past week as they toured the transformed two-family house at 60 Sixth St. in Greeneville.

“Where do you want to do your next one?” committee member H. Tucker Braddock asked developer Jeff Warcholik, owner of JPW Building LLC of Canterbury.

JPW Building is putting the finishing touches on the renovation project that has taken 21 months to totally gut and rebuild the long-vacant, two-family house at the corner of Prospect Street. While the basic characteristics of the finished product remain the same — two three-bedroom apartments — the finished product barely resembles the “before” pictures.

JPW Building eliminated the former front entrance on the narrow side of the house on Sixth Street and created two new entrances on the Prospect Street side. And instead of one apartment on each floor, with an unoccupied attic at the top, Warcholik created a townhouse-style duplex, with each apartment having three floors of living space, each with three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms. Each kitchen has granite countertops and an eating island. Large original windows on the first floor also can serve as an emergency exit.

A crumbled asphalt area outside the two entrances will be converted into a lawn, and the driveway and off-street parking will be on the Prospect Street side. He installed a stockade fence as a barrier to the overgrown yard and neglected house next door. Committee members joked that he could turn his attentions next to that house, where weeds could be seen growing from the gutters lining the roof.

The city building and fire marshal offices recently approved a certificate of occupancy for 60 Sixth St., and the next step will be for the 60 Sixth Street Committee of Sale — its members comprise the Board of Review of Dangerous Buildings — to recommend that the City Council approve transferring ownership of the property to JPW Building.

Warcholik said he will put the house on the market for sale. If he cannot find a buyer within about six months, he will rent out the two units.

As a bonus unrelated to the renovation, one day after the committee’s tour, steamrollers and construction trucks moved along Prospect Street and repaved what had been crumbling pavement, part of the city’s ongoing road repaving project.

The house at 60 Sixth St. is the third renovation project in what has become the second generation of the former urban homestead program launched in 1998.

The city started the program to both attack blight and encourage homeownership. Rather than auctioning or demolishing foreclosed and abandoned houses in very poor condition, the Board of Review of Dangerous Buildings marketed selected properties — some of them historical homes — for $1 to prospective developers with the winning renovation plans. Applicants had to prove their financial wherewithal and/or ability to carry out the renovations themselves.

In the early edition, the city preferred owner-occupied proposals, accepting rental proposals if necessary. Some two dozen single-family and multifamily buildings were renovated under the program, with an overwhelming success rate.

The urban homestead program faded when the housing market boomed in Norwich and the region, making auctioning foreclosed properties more successful. But Director of Inspections James Troeger and board of review members still prefer the request for proposals process for some properties.

Troeger stressed the control that the RFP process gives to the city, ensuring that work will be done. Some auctioned properties end up sitting in the same condition for years, forcing the city to seek blight enforcement fines.

While the city might not get a purchase price up front, Troeger said, the long-term benefit of ensured renovations that enhance key neighborhoods and higher property values is a better outcome. The new RFP program doesn’t emphasize owner-occupied projects and is OK with the developer putting the house on the market immediately.

Proposals are received and evaluated by the Board of Review of Dangerous Buildings, which makes recommendations to the City Council on a preferred developer. The resulting development agreement includes time deadlines, and the developer does not receive ownership until the project is completed.

Three houses have been completed since January under the new program. Ownership of an 1875, single-family house at 347 Central Ave. in Greeneville was transferred to developer Lauren Kang Properties LLC of Norwich on Feb. 5. Renovations were completed by developer Burnham Square Development Agency of Norwich at an 1880 house at 19 N. Cliff St. Like the Sixth Street house, the committee has done its walk-through there and is recommending the City Council transfer ownership.

“I personally think it’s a fantastic program, and it’s a win for the city,” said Alderwoman Stacy Gould, a member of the Board of Review of Dangerous Buildings, which becomes the committee of sale for each of the renovation projects. “We’re taking these properties that have been taken for foreclosure and put them on the tax rolls.”

While projected time deadlines often slip in the renovation projects, Gould and Troeger both said the committee keeps track of progress and may call the developer into a meeting to discuss the ongoing work. Gould often drives by projects to make mental notes of work, or lack of visible work, there.

“We’ve got a dedicated group on the board of review who follow these properties to make sure they are done well,” Gould said. “We vet these developers to make sure they have the financial wherewithal or know the people to hire. We don’t want them to start a project and say six months later ‘I finally found an electrician.’”

Warcholik said the 60 Sixth St. house was “a little worse” than he expected and took a little longer than he had hoped, but “we got through it.” This was his first experience in the Norwich RFP program. He worked with Norwich Public Utilities on energy-efficient lighting and the natural gas heating system.

“It was good working with them,” Warcholik said of city agencies. “The committee was always helpful. It was definitely a good experience.”

c.bessette@theday.com