Low-cost housing complex shelved
By Beth Wilson (Contact)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
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CORPUS CHRISTI — Plans to build a low-cost housing complex on the city's Southside have been scrapped because the project would cost more than the Corpus Christi Housing Authority expected.
Housing authority officials were preparing for a $15.5 million low-cost housing complex with 64 town houses and 136 apartments at 7442 Wooldridge Road off Rodd Field Road.
Neighbors packed public meetings about the housing development last year, voicing concerns about decreasing property values, overcrowding streets and schools and safety issues if it were built. Housing authority officials tried to calm those concerns by saying similar projects experienced no change in property value or crime and explaining that residents are screened and simply pay a lower-than-average rate.
Richard Franco, the housing authority's chief executive officer, said the neighborhood's opposition was not a factor in the decision made in the fall not to build.
"If it had been economically feasible, we'd be under construction right now," he said.
Bids to build the housing were about $2 million higher than budgeted, mostly because of rising construction costs, Franco said.
"We just couldn't make it work," he said.
Franco said he's focused now on redeveloping the housing authority's existing buildings, including the La Armada complex on Ayers Street, which was converted in the 1950s from military barracks built in the 1940s.
Amber Bright, and her husband, Josh, helped organize neighbors against the Wooldridge Road project, e-mailing regular updates and attending public meetings last year. They were worried their home would decrease in value because of the apartments.
Bright said she's glad the project is not happening but wants to see the likelihood of such a complex disappear.
"It will make me feel much better when they sell that land," she said.
The housing authority owns the land and has no plans to build on it in the near future, Franco said.
"If it's feasible to develop something there, then that will be a decision made by the board," he said.
The housing authority has a five-member board of commissioners.
The board's chairman, Rocco Montesano said the housing authority may hold on to the land or sell it and apply those proceeds to other projects.
Franco said there are no plans to build a similar complex elsewhere.
Montesano said he's disappointed the commission isn't doing the project.
"We really wanted to get a development in the Southside, in an area where families live," he said. "And break the chain of putting everything in one area and calling it low-income housing."
Contact Beth Wilson at 886-3748 or wilsonb@caller.com
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Title 24: Housing and Urban Development
PART 982—SECTION 8 TENANT BASED ASSISTANCE: HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM
Subpart J—Housing Assistance Payments Contract and ~~~~~~~~~~Owner Responsibility~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
§ 982.452 Owner responsibilities.
(a) The owner is responsible for performing all of the owner's obligations under the HAP contract and the lease.
(b) The owner is responsible for:
(1) Performing all management and rental functions for the assisted unit, including selecting a voucher-holder to lease the unit, and deciding if the family is suitable for tenancy of the unit.
(2) Maintaining the unit in accordance with HQS, including performance of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. For provisions on family maintenance responsibilities, see §982.404(a)(4).
(3) Complying with equal opportunity requirements.
(4) Preparing and furnishing to the PHA information required under the HAP contract.
(5) Collecting from the family:
(i) Any security deposit.
(ii) The tenant contribution
(the part of rent to owner not covered by the housing assistance payment).
(iii) Any charges for unit damage by the family.
(6) Enforcing tenant obligations under the lease.
(7) Paying for utilities and services (unless paid by the family under the lease).
(c) For provisions on modifications to a dwelling unit occupied or to be occupied by a disabled person, see 24 CFR 100.203.
(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 2577–0169)
[60 FR 34695, July 3, 1995, as amended at 60 FR 45661, Sept. 1, 1995; 63 FR 23861, Apr. 30, 1998; 64 FR 26647, May 14, 1999]
