RHA staff updates Heritage Park residents on relocation plan

Heritage Park Housing ComplexPhoto byFile

By Mia Khatib

mia.khatib@triangletribune.com

RALEIGH — As part of their series of resident meetings, Raleigh Housing Authority staff met with Heritage Park residents virtually last week to discuss project updates and relocation services.

Kenya Pleasant, RHA chief real estate development officer, said the cost of repairing Heritage Park far exceeds the funding they receive to maintain the property. Because of this, the agency will submit a Section 18 application to HUD to dispose of or transfer the site to a third party while still maintaining control of the property.

“The condition of the site is such that we can't use federal money to rehabilitate the site, and so that's one of the reasons why we're here in general,” she said. “This Section 18 application process allows us to be able to seek other funding for the purposes of redevelopment.”

Approval would also allow the RHA to apply for tenant protection vouchers for every occupied unit. The redevelopment will include at least 122 units of subsidized housing, the same amount currently offered at Heritage Park, and between 550 to 900 additional, unsubsidized units.

“It's going to be a range of income, so there might be some market rate units — and that's something that we haven't finalized in terms of what that mix is — but, by and large, most of that's going to be affordable housing,” Pleasant noted.

Relocation services like case management, counseling and financial assistance will be available to residents. To qualify, residents must reside legally in the U.S., be listed on a Heritage Park lease agreement, have made rent payments as scheduled or be in a repayment agreement with their property manager, and not be evicted by their manager.

RHA special assistant Laura McCann said residents can choose to receive a fixed moving fund based on bedroom size ($750 for a one bedroom and up to $1,600 for a five bedroom) or actual “reasonable” moving costs, which would require residents to budget and record receipts for reimbursement.

“We're going to be working with you at looking for a new home, whether that is staying in public housing or whether that is going out with a voucher,” she said. “At the end of the day, residents are going to be moving into a home that is either the same fundamentally as where you are currently, or hopefully even better, which is what we all want.”

Residents may also relocate to another RHA public housing site, use a tenant-based voucher and find their own landlord, or use a project-based voucher through RHA partnerships. McCann maintained all the options will be income based and “no one will be losing their housing assistance because of this redevelopment.”

All residents in good standing reserve the right to return upon redevelopment. To ensure this, the RHA will open the waitlist to current residents first and help with move-in costs, something McCann said they haven’t done before.

While relocation doesn’t officially begin until the Section 18 application is approved, which can take 60 to 90 days after submission on June 30, the agency is offering an early move-out option for tenants.

“We are hopefully going to be able to put out 100 to 150 project-based voucher units in those partnerships with our developers… and we have some of those units which are expected to be available in the next few weeks,” Pleasant said. “We want to try to create opportunities for folks that may be interested to take advantage of those units, particularly families that may have children in school, where it might be better for them to move over the summer.”

Attendee Wanda Gilbert-Coker asked if the additional units can be leveraged to support homeless residents in the community and if rents will be lowered to accommodate them.

“It could be that some of those folks served through those 122 units may be those that are transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing,” Pleasant responded. “Those could be permanent housing options should some Heritage Park residents not choose to return.”

For more information, visit www.rhaonline.com

Mia Khatib, who covers affordable housing and gentrification, is a Report for America corps member.