HUD HEADQUARTERS RELOCATES TO HOUSTON FOR A DAY AS CUOMO ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $70 MILLION IN GRANTS

HOUSTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo and senior HUD officials today relocated the Department's headquarters to Houston, Texas for a day to strengthen HUD's successful partnership with the city, and announced more than $70 million in grants.

Cuomo was joined by Mayor Lee Brown, and U.S. Representatives Gene Green, Ken Bentsen and Sheila Jackson Lee at a series of HUD For A Day events designed to give top HUD officials a better understanding of the needs of Houston so HUD can do more to help create jobs, spur economic development and expand the supply of affordable housing in the city.

"Mayor Brown is doing an outstanding job serving Houston and its people, and I appreciate the opportunity to see first-hand what he's accomplished," Cuomo said. "I've brought the top leadership of HUD here because the best way to understand Houston and its needs is to come here. The knowledge we gain today will help us to do a better job working with Houston to bring a new prosperity to this city and its people."

Cuomo - who last week joined President Clinton in spotlighting the need to provide computers and the skills to use them to low-income people and communities - today announced a public/private partnership to accomplish this in Houston. Cuomo said HUD will provide a $1 million grant for the Community Technology Initiative in Houston's enhanced Enterprise Community.

In addition to the HUD assistance for the computer project, the Community Technology Initiative will be aided by: 1) $80,000 in cash from local banks. 2) $40,000 in in-kind assistance from the Houston Chronicle. 3) $15,000 discount off the usual installation charge for computer equipment from International E-Commerce. 4) $30,000 in in-kind technical assistance by the Houston Office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). 5) Assistance from the AT&T Foundation and the United Way to help Houston apply for a $300,000 grant from AT&T and a $100,000 grant from the United Way.

The public/private partnership will provide neighborhood residents with access to the Internet as a welfare-to-work training tool and an employment search tool.

"I am pleased that Secretary Cuomo has accepted my invitation to come to Houston," said Mayor Brown. "This is a great opportunity to showcase what we are doing and to learn how we can strengthen our partnership with HUD. I appreciate the investment that HUD has made and will continue to make in our community."

"I am pleased that Secretary Cuomo is beginning his day in Houston in our Congressional District," said Congressman Green. "HUD is a vital agency in our District from the East End of Houston to the Greenspoint Aldine area in North Houston that provides important housing services."

"We expect that Secretary Cuomo's visit to Houston will help give HUD officials a better understanding of the affordable housing needs of our communities," Congressman Bentsen said. "This trip is a good way to strengthen our local partnerships with HUD."

"I am pleased that Secretary Cuomo has accepted our invitation to come to Houston and to visit Houston's neighborhoods which show how real public and private partnerships work," said Congresswoman Jackson Lee. "Secretary Cuomo's visit is the shot in the arm that will strengthen our working relationship with HUD."

In addition to the $1 million grant for the Community Technology Initiative of the Houston Enhanced Enterprise Community, Cuomo announced (see attachment for details):

• A Consolidated Action Plan grant of $55.2 million to Houston. This is a grant Houston gets each year for a broad range of housing and community development programs.

• A $13.1 million Continuum of Care grant to Houston/Harris County for assistance to homeless people.

• A $400,000 grant to the National Fair Housing Alliance to establish the Greater Houston Fair Housing Center to fight housing discrimination.

• A $238,000 Drug Elimination Grant to fight crime and drug abuse at Cleme Manor Apartments, a public housing development.

• Two grants totaling $389,000 to build computer centers at HUD-assisted and/or -insured housing complexes.

• A commitment by the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages totaling $3.5 billion over five years in the Houston area.

• A pilot project to educate recent immigrants about their fair housing rights.

• A $35,000 grant for Community Development Corporation Association of Houston to design and conduct a workshop on community economic development for Houston-area Community Development Corporations.

• A $35,750 grant for a gun buyback program.

Today's visit was the 12th HUD For A Day that Cuomo has held around the nation since becoming Secretary in 1997.

HUD officials joining Cuomo for the day included: Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner William Apgar; Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Cardell Cooper; Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Harold Lucas; General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Amy Wilkinson; and Special Assistant for Community and Interfaith Outreach Father Joseph Hacala.

Cuomo and the other HUD officials began the day by meeting with representatives of community and business groups for a roundtable discussion at the George I. Sanchez High School. Cuomo and the HUD officials then went their separate ways, to visit sites throughout Houston.

Cuomo joined Mayor Brown and Congressman Bentsen for an event at Corinthian Pointe to celebrate "Building Homes in America's Cities." Vice President Al Gore, Secretary Cuomo, and representatives from the National Association of Home Builders joined together in 1999 to launch "Building Homes in America's Cities" with the goal of building 1 million new homes in urban centers and inner-ring suburbs over the next 10 years to stem the tide of suburban sprawl and increase homeownership. Houston is one of four pilot cities.

At Corinthian Point, located in Southwest Houston, Rev. Kirbyjon Caldell is using HUD funds along with local public and private investment to build 450 single-family homes. One-third of the units will be sold to families who earn less than 80 percent Houston's media income.

Cuomo also visited Pleasant Hill Senior Citizen Complex in Houston's historic 5th Ward with Mayor Brown and Congresswoman Jackson Lee for a celebration of HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The 5th Ward is an example of the rebirth that can occur when flexible federal funding programs such as CDBG are used with other public and private funds: business is booming and people are buying homes and moving back into the neighborhood.

When desegregation opened up more of the cities neighborhoods, many high-income residents of the 5th Ward left and took the tax base with them.

While in the 5th Ward, Cuomo, Mayor Brown and Congresswoman Jackson Lee broke ground for Brittons Place Apartments, a 48-unit multifamily affordable housing development.

Cuomo also toured Acres Homes, in the 4th Ward, with Mayor Brown and Congresswoman Jackson Lee, before returning to preside at a closing roundtable session at the Urban League.