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A dreadful smelly polluted area.Good luck on finding someone to pay to live there.
Two years ago this month, the Augusta Commission refused to support the Augusta Housing Authority's plan to build a mixed-income community off Deans Bridge Road.
Homeowners near the proposed site were livid about the prospect of public housing so close to their new neighborhoods, and they turned commissioners and state legislators against the plan, effectively killing it.
On Tuesday, housing authority Executive Director Jake Oglesby will be back in front of commissioners, asking them to endorse what would be the city's first mixed-income development, built over what's now Underwood Homes in east Augusta.
Objections by Commissioner J.R. Hatney and the absence of Commissioner Betty Beard -- both of whom have east Augusta in their districts -- kept the resolution of support from being approved at the April 13 Administrative Services committee meeting. On Thursday, Mr. Hatney wanted the housing authority to explain to the East Augusta Neighborhood Association that the Underwood site is being redeveloped at once rather than in increments. After that, he said he would vote for the resolution.
"We don't anticipate any problems with it Tuesday," Mr. Oglesby said.
There are major differences between this project and the one rejected in 2007. For one, the Deans Bridge Road site was vacant. The 27-acre Underwood property has 249 public housing units and will have only about 60 after the redevelopment.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began backing mixed-income communities in the 1990s to break up compartmentalized poverty and integrate the poor, and Georgia cities such as Albany, Columbus, Macon and Savannah got on board years ago. In the new Augusta development, about 20 percent of the 300 units will be public housing, authority Planning and Development Director Richard Arfman said.
Whereas south Augustans wanted no part of the Deans Bridge plan, in east Augusta the transformation of Underwood Homes is considered the linchpin of the downtown master plan's Sand Bar Ferry Riverside, a "new urbanist" village with shops, single-family townhomes and garden apartments near the Savannah River.
Ms. Beard said at the meeting Thursday that she's disappointed the Deans Bridge plan failed.
"I'm going to say, it's been awfully difficult to get these things going in Augusta," she said after Mr. Oglesby's presentation. "I know it will be good for the community."
There are 180 families still in Underwood, a deteriorating 38-year-old complex originally built as private apartments, then sold to the housing authority. Based on meetings with heads of households, about half want to relocate to other public housing and half want Section 8 vouchers to live in private rental homes or apartments, Mr. Arfman said. All will be reimbursed for moving costs.
They couldn't be happier about leaving, said Underwood Homes Resident Association President Janiqua White, a single mother of five who has lived there for three years. Drugs and crime are rampant, she said. There's no central heat or air. Roofing is caving in, and old wiring is a fire hazard.
"Because of the living conditions, most people are ecstatic about it," said Ms. White, who's opting for a voucher and looking for an apartment off Washington or Wrightsboro roads. "Everyone that has come to me asking about it, they're asking, 'When are we going to move?' "
Families relocated from Underwood would be given priority if they want to return.
At the March housing authority meeting, board member David Steele asked about breaching the levee so new residents could have easy access to the river. Mr. Arfman said that's unlikely because it would take an act of Congress.
Between the river and the levee behind Underwood there are 27 acres of undeveloped, city-owned land, which the master plan by ICON Architecture has set aside for a camping and RV park, an idea proposed by Commissioner Joe Jackson.
The resolution the authority is seeking from commissioners won't make or break the deal, but it will add points to the tax credit application due May 21 to the state Department of Community Affairs, bolstering Augusta's chances in a competitive process. In the case of the Deans Bridge project, the housing authority aborted when it didn't get the resolution.
"We want to make sure we get community support before we do something like this, from a political point of view," Mr. Arfman said. "I think we have the community's support. The only thing that could mess us up would be if we don't get the approval from DCA."
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
UNDERWOOD HOMES' REPLACEMENT
Estimates and tentative plans by the Augusta Housing Authority and developer Walton Communities:
NAME: Not yet determined
COST: $25 million-$30 million
GATED? Undecided
FAMILY UNITS: 225
- About 25 percent will have one bedroom
- About 50 percent will have two bedrooms
- About 25 percent will have three bedrooms
SENIOR HOUSING UNITS: 75
- About 40 percent will have one bedroom
- About 60 percent will have two bedrooms
TENANT BREAKDOWN
- Public housing: 20 percent
- Tax credit (Family income $32,000-$34,000 per year): 80 percent
OPEN DATE: Late 2011 for first phase, which will be 150 units including the 75 for seniors
Source: Augusta Housing Authority
MOVING OUT: A TIMELINE
Relocation of the remaining Underwood Homes residents should start in June and last into the fall. Demolition, expected to cost the housing authority about $500,000, would start late this year or in early 2010.
The first phase of construction would start in spring 2010, building 150 units -- 75 for families and 75 for seniors. Tenants could start moving in toward the end of 2011.
Source: Augusta Housing Authority Planning and Development Director Richard Arfman
Comments
A dreadful smelly polluted area.Good luck on finding someone to pay to live there.
Why won't Betty Beard, J. R. Hatney and the rest of these corrupt politicians get out of the housing business and hold people accountable for their actions? Nobody made Janiqua have 5 children that she can't support. It is way past time to hold people accountable to the consequences of their awful decision making. It isn't government's responsibility or right to use taxpayer money to give people free housing.
Something has to be done with the people that gravitate to these projects. It's nice to upgrade the housing, but the problem is a lot deeper. Unless other steps are taken (based on personal responsibility) the 20% / 80% split will soon reverse and the 80 will be public and 20 will be "tax credit" housing.
if the owners of houses and property in old town and on aberclause drive have anything to say about it.. this mixed income plan will be shot down. hopefully.
Family units? Would that be a single woman getting welfare and her "friend", while taxpayers foot the bill? Besides, what senior citizen would want to live in all of that confusion. And most section 8 folks do not take care of anything! I know from experience with rentals. Voucher tenants are also ruining the regular apartment complexes.
this is a bad idea..
Johnny Edwards describes Underwood Homes as "a deteriorating 38-year-old complex." That is not because of the building materials, but because of the people who stay there.
How can anyone object that lives near there;the housing area is already there. How quick we are to criticize. Give it a chance. At least while renovating the drug problem will move.
Yes AAQueen, and it may move to your neighborhood. Those housing Vouchers mean they can move anywhere there is a vacancy.. Did you not see where one of them says she'll use her voucher to move to Washington Rd?
We already have our quota of section 8 boom boxes in the neighborhood. How about settling them up around the National Hills area or better yet buy some of the apartments by betty and let them live there. I am sure that renting them some of the apartments in Ms Beards complex would be the cheapest alternative and they would be right downtown near medical and social services.
These types of communities have worked extremely well in other cities to revitalize distressed neighborhoods in other cities, including Atlanta and Philadelphia. Having mixed incomes -- and integrating the community into the neighborhood instead of putting a fence around it -- is really important. The component that seems to be missing here is market-rate housing. You need that to make it really work.
So I'm thinking about moving and retiring to Augusta from Seattle. This sort of think is rampant in (very) liberal Seattle; it seems to be all they think about, with an ultimate goal to house and feed every homeless or poor person who can't or won't work. (seriously)
I was hoping that Augusta would be more immune to this, but I guess it's a reality. At least I know what area to stay away from. I'd like to think that there was a way to accommodate less fortunate without the attendant decay, drugs and crime, however I've not seen it happen in the Northwest.
Leave these people alone. They deserve to live where they are.
Good point, JimBob. The apartments can stand a little more deterioration.
How about instead of Housing vouchers, give them one way plane tickets out of Augusta.
The situation is just the opposite in some places. The 80% tax credit actually hurts some who would like to move to nice apartments close to their jobs in Virginia. For example, there is a very nice, brand new apartment complex about 200 yards from my office building. I make too much money to live there, so when I was looking for an apartment I had to move across town. The complex is not low income at all, but rather income restricted. Prospective tenants' incomes must fall within a range in order to apply. While that wasn't good for me, it might actually work in a place like Augusta. I'm not sure if that isn't already the case since I left town within days of graduating high school and never had to worry about renting in Augusta.
Excellent people would love to live there if the levee was cut down to 5' or so. Acts of Congress are an everyday occasion so that excuse is ridiculous. People, the levee won't save you if the dam fails. The river has never been over its banks since the completion of the dam. Augusta could reverse decades of decay by tearing down the levee.
Coldbeer
I have no problem with her moving to my neighborhood. We look after each other and the police number is on speed dial on our phones. We police up after ourselves and allow no drugs, wild parties, loud music, or speeding in our community.
If the community/Housing authority been more proactive/involved then I'm sure this community would not have deteriorated or became drug infested. The ratio is high for public assistance living but unless they take an interest in their community it will all be for nothing.
I have a different idea, Lou. Instead of tearing down the levee, the city should SELL the land between the levee and the river to the highest bidder. Then that person could develop whatever luxury thing he wanted: resort, hotel, shopping center, condominiums, casino, factory, you name it.
Thats the best idea I've seen on here today.I agree thet the Housing Authority is not doing their job.They should stop the mothers from haveing boyfriends liveing with them.If you use taxpayers money to pay your rent than get a hotel.Why does a senior need two bedrooms? Iknow,to have room for the grandkids or bum a-ws kids.
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