HUD AWARDS ALLENTOWN 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 Allentown Housing Authority (AHA). The funding will be used to revitalize the public housing units at the Hanover Acres and Riverview Terrace developments and create a new mixed-income community.

The grant will replace 421 aging public housing units with 200 new public housing units, 69 affordable rental units and 53 homes for sale. The redevelopment plan also includes a new 17,000 square-foot community center and a park. AHA will offer relocated residents supportive services including job training and placement, adult education services, youth programs child-care services and homeownership counseling.

"This funding gives Allentown the opportunity to improve the lives of the 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."

AHA 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 El Paso (Tex.), 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:

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, 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.

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.

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