HUD AWARDS EL PASO HOUSING AUTHORITY $20 MILLION TO REVITALIZE AGING PUBLIC HOUSING

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing Urban Development today awarded a $20 million HOPE VI Revitalization grant to the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso (HACEP). The funding will be used to revitalize
the public housing units at the Alamito Apartments and create a new mixed-income community.

The grant will replace 349 aging public housing units with 256 new public housing units, 55 affordable rental units
and 148 homeownership units. The redevelopment plan also includes renovating the existing Alamito Community Center. HACEP will provide housing services for residents, including job training and placement and maintain the independent living status for its elderly residents.

"This funding gives El Paso the opportunity to improve the lives of he residents in this public housing development
and create a community that thrives," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who announced the grant today. "This
is only possible when a housing authority lives up to its responsibility of building the affordable housing in a timely manner."

This grant marks HACEP's second HOPE VI grant. It received $36.2 million in 1995 to revitalize the public housing
units at the Kennedy Brothers development, which is one of the 42 completed HOPE VI communities.

HACEP was selected from a pool of 33 applications HUD received from public housing authorities (PHAs) across the country. Other grantees that received 2004 HOPE VI Revitalization funding are housing authorities in Allentown (PA), Greenville (S.C.), Philadelphia (Pa.), Springfield (Ohio), Tucson (Ariz.), Tuscaloosa (Ala.).

PHAs are competitively selected with an emphasis on the effectiveness and project readiness of their revitalization plans. HUD provides local housing authorities the flexibility to develop revitalization plans that meet their local needs. A team of HUD public housing and revitalization specialists score applications based on several revitalization rating factors, including:

As part of today's award, the PHA will pay relocation costs for residents as needed. Affected residents can relocate to other public housing or get a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) to subsidize their rent in privately owned
housing. Relocated residents who meet program requirements will be given the opportunity to move back to the
newly constructed units at the site. Alternatively, if residents choose not to return to public housing, they may choose to keep their voucher. In addition, relocated residents will be provided with the same job training and other supportive services offered to families living in the revitalized development.

Including this round of grants, HUD has awarded 224 grants to 121 cities that total $5.6 billion. To date 42 HOPE VI communities are completed. With more than $2.4 billion funds awarded, but not yet spent, HOPE VI funding will continue to positively impact communities well into the future.

The HOPE VI program, also known as the Urban Revitalization Demonstration, was created in 1992 as a result of a report by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing, which found approximately 86,000 public housing units in the U.S. needed revitalization. To date, more than 100,000 aging public housing units have been demolished under HOPE VI and other HUD programs.

When the first HOPE VI grants were awarded in 1993, it was the only significant means of leveraging private capital
to revitalize public housing properties. Today new financial tools are available to PHAs to transform aging public housing developments. For example, HUD has approved bond and loan transactions under its Capital Fund Financing Program that have leveraged approximately $2.3 billion in the last two years. By using this program, PHAs borrow
large amounts of cash to do major capital improvements or construct new units. They pay the debt using a portion
of their annual Capital Fund allocation from HUD.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.