CUOMO ANNOUNCES $1.9 MILLION GRANT TO FULTON COUNTY TO TEAR DOWN DECAYED PUBLIC HOUSING

ATLANTA - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced a $1.9 million grant to Fulton County, Georgia, to tear down the decayed Boatrock public housing development.

Fulton County is one of 27 jurisdictions receiving a HUD demolition grant for a total of $40.7 million. More than 6,700 units of public housing will be demolished.

"These developments represent the worst of the public housing stock in the United States," Cuomo said. "By tearing them down, we're making room for neighborhood revitalization."

The Housing Authority of Fulton County will use the grant to demolish all 258 dwelling units in the Boatrock Townhouse development. The development, which consists of a total of 38 buildings occupying 28 acres, was built in 1979.

The current 489 residents will be moved to other public housing developments or will be given rental assistance vouchers that will subsidize their rents in privately owned apartments. HUD will pay temporary relocation costs for the residents whose apartments are being demolished.

HUD's demolition grants are designed to allow public housing authorities to best manage the assets in their property portfolio. The HUD funds will be used where the cost to refurbish-or even to merely maintain-the development is greater than the cost to build a new development. In many cases, the development is considered such an undesirable place to live that families in desperate need of housing will turn down the opportunity to live in it.

Content Archived: January 20, 2009