A community group that has its sights on more than 100 failed properties in Larimer has been waiting since January for the city to transfer 15 lots to the Urban Redevelopment Authority so that a housing plan can proceed.

Though the East End neighborhood still poses risk to investors, it has a group of backers who believe it's poised for development. But it needs a good housing strategy to turn the corner and it can't do that without City Council's OK to get started on city-owned land.

The URA made a request early this year, and this summer Ora Lee Carroll, who runs the East Liberty Concerned Citizens Corp. (so named but devoted to Larimer), had her attorney follow it up, asking for City Council to act on the transfer.

Though some liens and titles need clearing, URA director Jerome Dettore said, "We know how to handle those processes."

The hitch is figuring out how to proceed so that both investors and the neighborhood get something back, instead of new houses without prospects, he said.

At the same time, Ms. Carroll blames her councilwoman, Twanda Carlisle, for holding the project up.

Councilwoman Carlisle sits on the board of the URA's Pittsburgh Housing Development Corp., which would be the developer for the Larimer housing. She would be the obvious sponsor of a resolution for a property transfer in her district, but has not acted.

Repeated calls for comment to her office and efforts of her staff to reach her went unanswered last week.

Larimer's profile and condition do not inspire headlong enthusiasm in many besides Ms. Carroll. Half of all Larimer's buildings are tax-delinquent, and one-fourth are vacant, according to the Community Information System database, which shows that levels citywide are about half that.

But Ms. Carroll believes her neighborhood is on the brink of effectively fighting decades of blight and decay, and she has a corps of advisers to support her, including an architect, a contractor and several financing agencies.

"I want to build a tax base back into this community," she said, adding that good, affordable owner-occupied homes are the key. "I want people to have yards, and I want people to have porches where there's room for more than two little chairs."

Most prospective buyers would probably rather live somewhere less weedy, less littered and less dicey.

"But they used to say that about the Mexican War Streets," said Rep. Joseph Preston, D-East Liberty, referring to the North Side historic district that was once called a slum and almost razed during urban renewal of the '50s and '60s. "You have to keep at it, to continually believe and not let government put up one or two facilities and say 'Isn't that nice?' and leave."

So far, a little investment has not inspired much more in Larimer. Behind the Kingsley Association, which invested in a new community center two years ago, the URA has already developed five houses, but they're not selling.

"We have to make sure the players all understand their roles," said Mr. Dettore, "and that the plans and efforts are well-coordinated so we have a success and not a failure. It would be so easy to start this and, months down the road, find out there's no buyers." He added that "all parties are trying to find a way to move this forward."

The Larimer housing plan team includes architect Steven Hawkins, who has given much of his time and advice over the years; Jerry Gesmond, a building contractor from McKeesport; the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA); PNC Bank; the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh; and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

During a recent walking tour of four blocks with about 25 properties the Larimer plan could include, Wylie Bradley of the PHFA assessed one block of Carver Street, saying, "This could be a high-impact street. A half dozen lots and four or five rehabs could make a major difference."

"It is very condensed, very do-able," said Robert Bobincheck, a policy and planning official for the PHFA. Density of housing, rather than an isolated new house here and there, is likely to be more successful, he said, and in that regard, "It's one of the best sites I've seen."

The East Liberty Concerned Citizens Corp., a nonprofit that has sought to bring development to Larimer for years, achieved Blueprint Community status for the neighborhood last year. The Blueprint program is an initiative of several banks to give struggling communities organizational training toward building a neighborhood development plan and seeing it through.

The Larimer stakeholders have to gain control of most properties they would propose for state financing before the agency would be confident enough to invest, William Koons told a gathering in Larimer last week. Mr. Koons is the director of development for the PHFA.

"The process [for getting PHFA funding] is very competitive," he said, adding that the agency received 23 proposals at a recent deadline for a pool of more than $30 million.

"Everyone wants to see you get some momentum," he said. "Acquire as many [properties] as you can get your hands on. Identify each parcel and what status it has. When the home-owners choice program [deadline] comes around again next year, you should have lots of properties."

The URA's development coordinator, Richard Snipe, said acquisition is the highest hurdle, especially in low-income neighborhoods where many properties are tax delinquent and whose absentee owners sometimes are hard to find.

"But there are going to be positive results [in Larimer]," he said, "because Ora Lee doesn't give up."