HUD AWARDS CHOICE NEIGHBORHOOD GRANT IN NORTH LAS VEGAS
City of North Las Vegas and partners will develop transformation plan for Urban Core Neighborhood

WASHINGTON - Building on a commitment to help local communities redevelop distressed public or assisted housing and transform neighborhoods, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro announced seven new Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant awards, including $485,000 to the City of North Las Vegas and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority. These awards will help grantees craft comprehensive, locally driven plans to revitalize and transform distressed neighborhoods. Part of the Obama Administration's effort to build Ladders of Opportunity to the middle class, HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Initiative promotes a comprehensive approach to transforming neighborhoods struggling to address the interconnected challenges of distressed housing, inadequate schools, poor health, high crime, and lack of capital.

Secretary Castro made the announcement at the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, one of the grantees that will use the funding to improve the Russell neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky.

"These Choice Neighborhood grants will spark the creation of community plans for progress," said Castro. "We look forward to working with local leaders to breathe new life into struggling neighborhoods, transforming them into places where residents can flourish and dreams can thrive."

"The Rose Gardens and Buena Vista Springs areas are two of the oldest communities in Southern Nevada. This grant will revitalize these two urban core neighborhoods," said North Las Vegas Mayor John J. Lee. "I want to extend my appreciation to Senator Reid and our own city staff who worked hard to make this possible."

HUD is awarding a $485,000 Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants to the City of North Las Vegas and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority to embark upon a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the North Las Vegas Urban Core neighborhood, which lies adjacent to the city's redevelopment area and within the Southern Nevada Enterprise Community planning area. The neighborhood struggles with a poverty rate of 31 percent and high crime rates, and severely distressed public housing. Further, the City of North Las Vegas was negatively impacted by the economic downturn, resulting in city-wide vacancies and an unemployment rate of 17 percent.

The North Las Vegas Urban Core is home to the 120-unit Rose Gardens public housing development, as well as a former multifamily housing complex called Buena Vista Springs. Through a community revitalization process and Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NSP-3) funds, Buena Vista Springs was demolished. Today, it is an 18-acre tract of vacant property in the Urban Core that is plagued by crime. The City of North Las Vegas, along with the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority and other partners, will use the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant to build upon existing community-driven, site specific interventions. With the active support of the residents of Rose Gardens, community stakeholders, developers, city planners, and partners such as the Clark County School District, the Lincy Institute of UNLV, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, and Nevada Partners Inc., the planning process will create an impactful Transformation Plan that establishes long-term neighborhood stability.

Read local summaries of the grants announced today.

Choice Neighborhoods is HUD's signature place-based initiative and its vision builds on the work that has been done by the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, an interagency partnership between HUD, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and Treasury, since 2009. Choice Neighborhoods also supports the Ladders of Opportunity plan, which will help community partners rebuild neighborhoods, expand early learning opportunities, create pathways to jobs, and strengthen families. Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:

• Housing: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
   
• People: Improve educational outcomes and intergenerational mobility for youth with services and supports delivered directly to youth and their families.
   
• Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families' choices about their community.

HUD's commitment to teamwork means local residents and leaders are leading the way in revitalizing their communities. In order to develop a plan that meets the core goals of Choice neighborhoods, broad civic engagement will be needed. Local leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as public housing authorities, cities, schools, police, business owners, nonprofits, and private developers come together to create a plan that transforms distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood. This Transformation Plan is the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units, while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and positive outcomes for families.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.