Three Affordable Housing Complexes to be Redeveloped in New Orleans
After a quick approval by its federally appointed chief Donald Barbers, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) confirmed plans to demolish and redevelop the city’s three largest public housing complexes.
The three developments — C.J. Peete, St. Bernard and B.W. Cooper — will be reestablished as “mixed-income” communities, with a fourth, Lafitte, near Treme, already leased to non-profit developers who are planning a gigantic reconstruction of its area and the nearby neighborhood.
“These are critical times,” Barbers said. “This is a major move in the direction we’re going in for redevelopment of what we call the ‘big four.’ It is the future of HANO.”
The first three complexes, shuttered since Hurricane Katrina struck 14 months ago, reports New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Gwen Filosa, will include at least 1,285 units, with the proportions of market rate and subsidized affordable housing yet to be determined.
The fourth, taken over by non-profits, is to offer 1,500 units, including almost 900 for families on public assistance.
The Louisiana housing market has been in a state of flux ever since the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last fall. Now state and local officials are setting out on a daunting task — rebuilding the areas of the state and establishing a housing market appealing enough for displaced residents to be able, and want, to return.
That means making housing affordable, forgiving past mortgage loan debt, and planning neighborhoods conducive to middle-income growth.
To launch its three big redevelopment projects, HANO needs $199 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, dependent on the plans’ review and approval by the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority.
So far, HANO has issued 5,185 disaster vouchers to families unable to make their exisiting home mortgage payments and needing housing subsidies, but only 2,185 have actually been used for occupancy.
New Orleans Legal Assistance Corp. attorney Laura Tuggle believes that HANO officials must do more to provide affordable housing for the poor.
“We only have about 1,000 families in public housing now,” she stressed. ”We’ve got 3,000 folks out there on the streets searching for housing.”
