Two long-neglected houses on Sedam Street in Sedamsville are back open after a Port-led renovation, giving neighbors a tangible sign that a bigger plan to convert absentee-owned rentals into owner-occupied homes is finally moving from promise to reality.
Ribbon-cutting marks early wins
The Port of Greater Cincinnati held a ribbon-cutting Thursday to show off the first two renovated Sedam Street houses, both formerly part of landlord John Klosterman’s portfolio, as reported by WCPO. City and Port officials at the event cast the project as a concrete way to halt neighborhood decline, put homes back into local hands, and start changing the story on a block-long associated with problem properties.
Port’s plan in motion
According to The Port, the Sedamsville initiative is designed to rehab 18 single-family homes, stabilize six additional structures, and roll construction out in phases, with work that began in 2025 and an expected finish in 2026. Senior Vice President Lindsay Florea told WVXU that crews are already working on most of the houses and that the agency expects private investment to follow once the lots and structures are shored up.
Price band and budget
City meeting records show the renovated houses are expected to hit the market in roughly the $125,000–$180,000 range, with project budget documents citing total uses of about $8.0 million to cover hard construction, soft costs, and closing expenses. That price band and budget information appear in the official City of Cincinnati council record, while active market listings, including one on Redfin, show renovated Sedam Street properties beginning to trade near those levels.
Legal background
The two homes were part of a larger Klosterman portfolio that landed in receivership and was later transferred to the Hamilton County Land Reutilization Corporation after extended code enforcement efforts and unpaid city judgments, according to filings from the U.S. Department of Justice. Klosterman has faced federal housing-related claims and, in recent filings, was reported to owe roughly $579,000 in unpaid city fines and taxes, according to WCPO.
What’s next for Sedamsville
Port officials say work on the remaining Sedamsville houses will continue through the year and is projected to wrap by December 2026, with the effort paired with a companion home-repair program aimed at helping long-time residents stay put, per The Port. Supporters of the project say the mix of full rehabs, repair assistance, and historic-preservation work is meant to stabilize the surrounding blocks and encourage modest, locally rooted reinvestment rather than a fast, speculative flip.
