HUD AWARDS $19,542,000 IN HOPE VI GRANTS TO MILWAUKEE TO TRANSFORM PUBLIC HOUSING, HELP RESIDENTS

CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee $19,542,000 in HOPE VI grant funding. The city will receive a $19,500,000 HOPE VI Revitalization grant that will be used to replace aging public housing with new housing for 121 families. The Housing Authority will also receive grants totaling $42,000 that will be used to demolish aged public housing at several scattered sites.

In Milwaukee, the Revitalization grant for scattered sites in the Midtown neighborhood will replace 81 older public housing units with 32 public housing units. It will also develop 4 affordable homeownership units and 24 market rate homeownership units. The off-site component, on land donated by the City, will consist of 41 public housing units, 4 HOME rental units and 5 homeownership units. The plan will incorporate traditional architectural and landscape features with an interconnected network of streets and defensible space. The revitalized development will provide housing and programs that will foster self-sufficiency among residents. A Neighborhood Network Center will be established at the Cherry Court development located in the neighborhood. The HACM will act as its own master developer and will contract with Friends of Housing Corporation to manage the units.

"I was part of the Congressionally-appointed commission that created the HOPE VI program a little more than 10 years ago," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "I'm pleased that Milwaukee is one of the cities that will get funding this year to revitalize this community and improve the lives of its residents."

Milwaukee was selected from a pool of 56 applications HUD received from public housing authorities (PHA) for the 2003 HOPE VI Revitalization funding. The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee has received five HOPE VI Revitalization grants, including this award.

These PHAs were competitively selected with an emphasis on the effectiveness and project readiness of their public housing revitalization plans. HUD policy 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:

• Capacity: The ability of the housing authority or developer to administer and manage completion of the revitalization effort.
  
  
• Need for Revitalization: The severity of physical distress of the development.
  
  
• Match/Leveraging: The ability of the housing authority to supplement the HOPE VI grant with funding from other sources - private, state or local government.

As part of today's award, HUD will pay relocation costs for residents being displaced by this revitalization effort. 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 will be given Section 8 vouchers to subsidize their rents in privately owned housing. In addition, relocated residents receiving vouchers will be provided with the same job training and services offered to people living in the revitalized development.

Including this round of grants, HUD has awarded 217 Revitalization grants to 118 cities that total $5.5 billion. With $5 billion already awarded and $2.3 billion, but not yet spent, HOPE VI funding will continue to 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. The first HOPE VI Revitalization grants were awarded in 1993.

The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee was also selected from a pool of 57 applications HUD received for the 2003 HOPE VI Demolition funding. The $45,810,291 in grants awarded to 45 housing authorities for this grant round will fund the demolition of 5,954 older public housing units.

Since the HOPE VI Demolition program began in 1996 and including the grants awarded today, HUD has awarded 263 grants to 122 housing authorities in 32 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Including the grants awarded today, housing authorities have received more than $381 million in HOPE VI Demolition grants to demolish nearly 56,000 severely distressed public housing units.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; 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 as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.