CLPHA Press Room

From HUD Multifamily Housing’s Office of Recapitalization’s RADBlast! Newsletter:

Jordan Downs, located in the Watts neighborhood of southern Los Angeles, California, was built in the 1940s as housing for war workers during World War II. In the early 1950s, Jordan Downs became public housing under the management of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). While it provides an essential lifeline in a city with rapidly rising rental costs, the property was in dire need of modernization. In addition, it was isolated, with its site in both a food desert as well as lacking transit access to economic opportunities for its residents.

Following years of resident and community engagement, HACLA deployed the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and other tools to reinvest in this community, rebuilding all of the existing homes, doubling the affordable housing on site from 700 to approximately 1,400 affordable rental units, adding market-rate units to ensure a mixed-income development, and reshaping the surrounding community. The City of Los Angeles is roughly halfway through implementing a 10-year master plan for the complex, with plans to continue to use RAD through 2027, while also adding nine acres of public park space and a new retail center, including a grocery store, at Century Boulevard and Alameda Street.

Read about how HACLA engaged residents throughout this transformation, how all residents have the opportunity to move into newly built apartments, and residents’ positive reactions as their neighborhood and housing is being revitalized through RAD.

View the Photo Essay Here 

Vancouver Housing Authority recently celebrated the opening of an assisted living facility that will house 40 formerly homeless individuals with behavioral health challenges—the first of its kind in Washington state. Prior to constructing Tenny Creek Assisted Living there hasn’t really been a place in Vancouver, Wash. to house vulnerable people with behavioral and physical health issues who need a higher level of care than independent living, said Joan Caley, who chairs VHA’s board. 

“I teach community health nursing and that’s why this project is particularly dear to me because it’s going to address one of the big issues we have in our community,” Caley said. “The people who will live here will stop the cycle of homelessness, incarceration, stays at shelters and Western state hospital as well as multiple visits to emergency rooms.” Financing for the $17.1 million facility came from the Washington State Department of Commerce Housing Trust Fund, the National Development Council, a state capital appropriation and VHA.

Operations will be supported by Medicaid and rental subsidies from VHA received as a result of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development designating Tenny Creek’s studio apartments as public housing. Also, the county approved use of a local sales tax fund to bolster startup costs and VHA is hopeful another application with the Department of Commerce will be approved. 

“If we’re actually going to be the community that we say we’re going to be, we need to take some risks, we need to be innovative, we need to come together cause as you can see it takes diverse funding,” said Vanessa Gaston, who heads Clark County Community Services. “It’s going to take a variety of providers to come together. In the end it’s what best for our community because we are helping the most vulnerable and marginalized."

Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, said she partnered with housing authorities statewide on a bill to ensure housing authorities won’t face unnecessary increased costs that would cause housing costs to go up. “[House Bill 1975] enables housing authorities to continue to do the good work that they do to take care of the facilities that they provide for the different populations,” Wylie said.

Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, highlighted the local legislative delegation’s bipartisan support for the project.

“These are complex issues that these individuals are having,” he said. “We need to address that. I’m just glad I’m in a community that actually recognizes that and has done something about that—and continues to do something about that.”

Homelessness is not easy to resolve and requires continued funding, especially since 40 units doesn’t meet the need, Harris said. Tenny Creek is part of the area’s efforts to build a variety of housing that serves different populations.

“It’s an incredible model that we should be looking at all across our state,” said Clark County Treasurer Alishia Topper, who also serves on the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

She was appointed to the commission in 2017 when she was a Vancouver city councilmember and trying to tackle the housing crisis.

“Unfortunately, those challenges are still here today and they are growing,” she said. “One of the particular interests are projects like this one that are really going to be able to offer communities the intensive services and support that are crucial to giving them a path to a healthy, sustainable life.” 

While public housing authorities have long known that digital access is critical to improve life outcomes for low-income individuals and families, recent increases in federal resources dedicated to broadband access are creating new awareness about its untapped potential.

Last year, the Biden administration funded the Emergency Broadband Benefit program with a $3.2 billion grant. In December 2021, the Federal Communication Commission launched the administration’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a $14 billion long-term initiative that offers up to $30 a month for the costs of internet service for eligible households.

At CLPHA’s  8th Annual Housing Is Summit last month, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in his keynote speech, “When I look at the data where we can reach more vulnerable households…, I consistently come back to housing. I see a clear synergy between housing and connectivity; if we are helping a family secure housing, we should be able to help them secure an internet connection as well.”

Public housing authorities such as the Jersey City Housing Authority (JCHA) and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) are already bridging the digital gap. In Los Angeles, HACLA, community partners, residents, and internet service provider Starry worked together to get 78 percent of the 1000 units of Nickerson Gardens in Watts online. JCHA is also partnering with Starry to bring affordable internet access to its Hudson Gardens and Thomas J. Stewart communities, and JCHA also put out a bid for broadband infrastructure and high speed, low-cost internet services with ISP Andrena winning the contract to wire four public housing developments.

The most efficient and effective avenue for federal government to expand digital access to low-income families is through public housing authorities. To take advantage of infrastructure that public housing authorities provide, the FCC is launching a pilot program to expand ACP participation among households receiving federal public housing assistance.

The dream of providing digital access to low-income Americans is within our reach, especially with increased funding from the federal government and broader awareness of the importance of high-speed internet to all facets of our lives. Public housing authorities continue to pursue new strategies and partnerships that make this crucial resource available to families in their communities that need it most. Now is the time for all stakeholders – local and state governments, funders, community partners and residents – to step up and join PHAs in making this dream a reality. 

Vancouver Housing Authority and its partners recently celebrated the start of construction on Fourth Plain Community Commons in Vancouver, Wash. The project will anchor the area, known as Vancouver’s International Business District, which is home to the city’s most diverse and lowest income neighborhoods.

Opening in 2023, the mixed-use project features 106 workforce housing units on the upper floors and a flexible ground floor space. It’s located along a major thoroughfare and bus rapid transit corridor, Fourth Plain Boulevard. VHA will own and operate the apartments while the City of Vancouver will develop the ground space and work with community organizations to operate it. 

The city and housing authority are collaborating with Salazar Architect Inc. and Walsh Construction Co. to bring the project to life. The team hosted open houses, surveys, workshops and design meetings (which switched to remote interviews and focus groups after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic) to determine what residents and businesses need.

“That is how it evolved over time,” Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony. “It wasn’t the city’s plan. It wasn’t just Vancouver housing authority’s plan. It was this community’s plan.”  

Fourth Plain Community Commons will have over 10,000 square feet of shared office space and event space, along with a commercial kitchen incubator to launch and support food-based businesses. Additionally, a 9,000-square-foot outdoor plaza will host festivals and events including a farmers market. Fourth Plain Community Commons is designed to allow murals to cover much of the façade, contributing to the area’s mural arts tradition.

The aim is to improve the corridor’s safety, create a place where people can gather and access services, strengthen small businesses and increase the supply of affordable housing—a critical need in Vancouver. It’s part of Fourth Plain Forward, an initiative to support residents, enhance the area and boost local businesses.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development expressed its support for the project and others like it.

“Your partners at HUD here in the region, your partners across the Biden administration stand ready to bring federal resources to the table to partner with you to make creative moves just like this to open doors for more families throughout our region,” said Margaret Salazar, HUD’s Region 10 administrator.