CLPHA Press Room

From the St. Thomas Source:

The Virgin Islands Housing Authority unveiled a portfolio plan for lawmakers that spans 10 years, requires an investment of $830 million, will generate or impact 3,300 jobs and create more than 2,700 affordable apartments between St. Thomas and St. Croix.

During a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunication, VIHA Executive Director Robert Graham updated lawmakers on five matters: the safety of residents in public housing, the Authority’s new preventative maintenance program, demolition of the storm-damaged Tutu High-Rise Apartments, the implementation of the portfolio plan and the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services program that issued a panel report with recommendations of how to use the funding from the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief program “as a catalyst for revitalization of public housing.”

“The challenge for VIHA is to advocate for a change in the territorial mindset that the current public housing communities, as originally designed, are appropriate for today’s standard of living. We have an opportunity to transform the entire old public housing portfolio to lower density, energy-independent, attractive, amenity-rich environments designed to support family self-sufficiency,” Graham said.

Read the St. Thomas Source's article "Housing Authority Gives Senate a Glimpse of What’s to Come," featuring the Virgin Islands Housing Authority.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The Pittsburgh Housing Authority is aiming to rehab 86 public housing units in the Manchester neighborhood in Pittsburgh's North Side.

Housing officials say they will seek federal approval next month for the improvements, which aim to repair and replace floors, furnaces and water heaters, install new cabinets and bathroom fixtures, as well as building roofs.

Residents will have to temporarily relocate, but will have the right to return when repairs are completed, though not necessarily to their identical unit, according to materials from the housing authority.

The homes are a mix of multi-family apartment buildings and row homes scattered throughout the historic neighborhood, which is filled with brick homes and many brick sidewalks.

Read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's article "Plan for Manchester housing upgrades moving forward," featuring the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh.

From the Paterson Times:

After years of delay, crews began demolishing the World War II-era Riverside Terrace housing development on 5th Avenue this week, to make way for 246 new senior and family apartments.

Demolition is expected to take six months, said Israel Roizman of Roizman Development which is undertaking the approximately $105 million construction project at the 17-acre site. He said 30 buildings have to be knocked down. Site preparation work, road work, sewer and plumbing, and electricity work is being done simultaneously with demolition, he said.

Roizman said groundbreaking will likely be held in March.

Municipal officials welcomed the latest development.

Read the Paterson Times's article "Paterson: Demolition starts at Riverside Terrace housing development," featuring the Paterson Housing Authority.

From Cambridge Day:

One of Cambridge’s biggest landlords, the Cambridge Housing Authority, is about to take an extraordinary step: return security deposits to its tenants and stop collecting the payments from new residents. The authority’s board approved the change Wednesday.

Staff at the public housing agency said a financial analysis showed that it was spending more than five times as much to maintain the accounts as it collects when a small number of tenants moving out owe rent or leave their apartments damaged. “It just doesn’t pay to keep them,” said Andrew Kerivan, CHA asset manager, referring to the deposits.

The Authority expects to begin returning the money Feb. 15 and finish by the end of March, executive director Mike Johnston said. A memo to its commissioners said 1,642 of its 2,929 public housing households  paid a deposit when they moved in. The maximum amount, under the agency’s policy, is $200. Kerivan said close to $300,000 is held in security deposits.

Read Cambridge Day's article "Housing Authority does the math, will cancel security deposit system, return tenant money," featuring the Cambridge Housing Authority.

Article from the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority:

Exciting and great things are happening at Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. We recently closed on the financing to transform and preserve The Evanston through the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD). There are 100 families residing at that site and their home will undergo renovation improvements estimated at $4 million. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority closings through RAD thus far add up to $39 million. We are anticipating $82 million in preservation work for 2020. CMHA goes beyond housing by serving as an economic engine to the community with job creation. To celebrate the preservation work being done at The Evanston, a “Reno Day” was held January 7, 2020.

As part of an ongoing commitment to providing affordable housing throughout Hamilton County, CMHA is renovating the low-rise building with new flooring, new bathrooms, retouched kitchens and more.

Furthermore, on January 9 U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Midwest Regional Administrator Joseph P. Galvan designated Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Findlater Resource Opportunities Center, 595 Strand Lane, and the Winton Terrace Resource Opportunities Center, 4848 Winneste Ave., as EnVision Centers as part of Secretary Ben Carson’s signature EnVision Center initiative today. Following a highly competitive selection process, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and City of Cincinnati are the newest of 34 communities across the country with an ‘EnVision Center’ designation. Read HUD’s press release.