Modern living, historic home

The new apartment is beautiful!" exclaims Genoveva Vascones, shown seated with her mother and father in the first photo on the left. Vascones, manager of a school lunch room, her husband and daughter were one of the 13 families that moved into the first apartment building rehabilitated in Quito's historic center.

Her old home, in the same building, consisted of a few small rooms that were "ugly and damp." Several families shared the same electric and water meters, and there were disagreements about payments.

About 4,000 people live in Quito's historic center, many of them families crowded into one or two rooms in the crumbling, dark interiors of old patio houses abandoned by wealthy owners in the 1950s. Today, as many as 15 families may share a single toilet and cold water tap.

One of the goals of Quito's historic center program is to retain 3,000 of these residents by remodeling substandard rental housing and selling it back to current tenants, complete with kitchens and private bathrooms. Tenants must make a down payment equal to at least 25 percent of the cost of the apartment and obtain their own mortgage from a private bank. Up to one-third of the cost can be subsidized by the Ministry of Urbanization and Housing in a project sponsored by the IDB as an incentive for the families to save for the down payments on their unit. The money from mortgages and down payments is recycled by the public private corporation for the historic center to finance the rehabilitation of more units.

The building where the Vasconeses live was rehabilitated with the help of financing from the government of France at a cost of only $15,785 per unit. Based on the success of this pilot experience, the city plans to upgrade up to 1,000 units with funds provided by an IDB loan.

Date posted: June, 1999

Proud owner...

Crumbling buildings...

Ripe for renovation...