Communities in Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin receive funding to redevelop distressed public housing and revitalize neighborhoods
WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — Expanding on its commitment to help local communities redevelop severely distressed HUD assisted housing and revitalize neighborhoods, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded nearly $5 million to six communities.
Funded through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, these grants promote a comprehensive approach to transforming neighborhoods struggling to address the interconnected challenges of distressed housing, inadequate schools, poor health, high crime, and lack of capital.
HUD is awarding Choice Neighborhood Planning grants to the following communities:
| State | Lead Recipient (Co-Recipient, if applicable) |
Target Housing Address | City | Amount |
| AL | Housing Authority of the City of Phenix City (City of Phenix, AL) | Frederick Douglass Homes, 400 12th Ave, Phenix, AL 36867 | Alabama | $250,000 |
| AZ | City of Tucson | Tucson House, 1501 N Oracle Rd, Tucson, AZ 85705 | Arizona | $1,300,000 |
| IL | Urban Strategies, Inc. (Housing Authority of the City of East St. Louis) | Samuel Gompers Homes, 450 N. 6th Street, East St. Louis, IL 62201 | East St. Louis | $350,000 |
| MD | Housing Authority of Baltimore City | Poe Homes, 800 W. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 | Baltimore | $1,300,000 |
| NJ | Housing Authority of the City of Camden | Ablett Village, 307 Ablett Village, Camden, NJ 08105 | Camden | $350,000 |
| WI | Marquette University (Near West Side Partners) | College Court, 3334 W Highland Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53208 | Milwaukee | $1,300,000 |
| TOTAL | $4,850,000 | |||
Read local summaries of the grants announced today.
Choice Neighborhoods is HUD’s signature place-based initiative and its vision builds on the work that has been done by the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, an interagency partnership between HUD, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and Treasury, since 2009. Choice Neighborhoods is focused on three core goals:
- Housing: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
- People: Improve outcomes of households living in the target housing related to employment and income, health, and children’s education; and
- Neighborhood: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community.
Through the Choice Neighborhoods planning process local governments, housing authorities, residents, nonprofits, tribal authorities, private developers, school districts, police departments, and other civic organizations create a common vision and develop effective strategies to revitalize their neighborhood. The resulting Transformation Plan lays the foundation for revitalizing the distressed public and/or assisted housing units, transforming the surrounding neighborhood, and promoting opportunities for families.
Three of the awardees will receive an additional $950,000 for “action activities.” The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, the City of Lewiston, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority will use these additional funds to build momentum and attract additional investment. Eligible uses of these funds include recycling vacant property into community gardens, pocket parks, or farmers markets; beautification, place-making and community arts projects; homeowner and business façade improvement programs; neighborhood broadband or wi-fi; fresh food initiatives; and gap financing for economic development projects.
