The Oak Ridge Housing Authority unveiled plans Friday morning to begin work early next year to renovate 128 existing public housing units scattered around the city and and construct 104 new affordable rental units in the Scarboro community for the area's workforce at a total cost of $56 million.
"This is a historic moment for the Oak Ridge Housing Authority, for the city of Oak Ridge and most importantly for the residents of Oak Ridge and this community," said Maria Catron, ORHA executive director.
Ralph Perry, Tennessee Housing Development Agency executive director, said it's the biggest project financially that THDA has been involved in with Anderson County.
Construction of new buildings and renovations of the old ones is set to begin within the first four months of 2025, Catron said. The new Scarboro units are expected to be completed by mid-2026 and occupied before the end of that year.
The project is being supported through tax credits and tax-exempt bond awards announced Friday by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. The low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds will generate up to $51.8 million for the renovation and new construction developments throughout Oak Ridge, Catron said in a news release.
At the event announcing the project, which was held at the Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue, Catron said the city of Oak Ridge had donated 11 acres for the project. The center is adjacent to the site where the new housing units will be located.
The event included representatives from U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty's office, ORHA, THDA, the city of Oak Ridge government and its schools and Anderson County government. Also present was Richelle Patton, the founder, owner and president of Atlanta-based Collaborative Housing Solutions, described as the master developer for the project.
How the project will be funded
ORHA is receiving a 4% tax credit, valued at $15.3 million, and $18.5 million in tax-exempt bonds to build 104 new units of workforce housing in Scarboro and to renovate 58 public housing units across the city on Apple Lane, Wade Lane, Knoll Lane and Honeysuckle Lane.
Another 9% tax credit award, valued at $18 million, will help renovate 70 units spread across four sites on LaSalle Road, Irene Lane, Van Hicks Road and Joel Lane.
“The work being done by Oak Ridge Housing Authority will transform and improve the city’s public housing, as well as provide much-needed affordable housing for low-income families and individuals,” Perrey stated. “THDA supports projects like this through our Affordable Housing Credits to help offset the costs of construction and ensure that affordable housing can be built that will make a positive impact on the communities where they are located.”
Much of the public housing in Scarboro was built when the city was segregated and hasn't changed much since then, he said.
Affordable housing is a big problem in Anderson County, as it is across the country, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said, adding it's particularly difficult for the city's essential workers who are working but can't find housing they can afford.
Derrick Hammond said he was speaking in both of his roles - that of an Oak Ridge City Council member and as the pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church in Scarboro, the city's historically Black community. He said when he first came to Oak Ridge to pastor the church, he met with the Rev. Harold Middlebrook of Knoxville, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. In advising him on helping his community, Middlebrook told the young pastor to help people be integrated into the life of the city, the church and the community.
Hammond said this housing plan not only is helping the people in need of housing or improved housing realize their dreams, but through his work in the city and with ORHA on this project, he's realized his dream.
Hammond thanked the members of the Scarboro community. He said as a council member he was representing the source of trauma for people in the community. He said they now support and believe in this project.
He thanked them for the trust.
Passionate advocates for marginalized people make these projects work, Catron said following Hammond's statements.
Patton said they would be meeting with all 128 families living in public housing to find out their needs, such as whether they have children, pets or need handicapped accessibility now or in the future. She said as the public housing units are renovated, the families will move to vacant housing units. She talked to Oak Ridge School Superintendent Bruce Borchers about meeting with school officials to ensure children wouldn't have to attend a different school when this happens.
Affordable housing is part of the Oak Ridge Blueprint Plan
The redevelopment of these properties is a critical component of the city's Blueprint Plan, adopted by Oak Ridge City Council in 2019, according to Patton. The blueprint’s goals and action strategies focus on a cross-sector approach to improve the quality of life in the city, as well as to position itself for future population growth.
Among the blueprint’s goals is developing strategies to restore the heritage of neighborhoods built during World War II. The new construction in Scarboro will recognize its history as a segregated Black community during the 1940s in Oak Ridge and its place in history. The Scarboro 85 were the first Black students in the Southeast to integrate an all-white school. The 85 came from Scarboro School and went to Robertsville Junior High School and Oak Ridge High School in 1955. The schools were still under the authority of the federal government at the time.
ORHA worked collaboratively with Scarboro residents in planning the new rental units there. Patton said there'd been nine meetings in the past year with the residents.
The blueprint’s goals also include expanding housing options by adding high-quality purchase and rental units attractive to young families and new hires, which the ORHA’s plans support. The Scarboro site will include 10 homes that will be affordable for people like the city's police officers and firefighters to purchase, officials have said in past meetings with the city.
Fixing up the old public housing thanks to a RAD program
Besides the tax credits, another change that makes the renovation of the 128 existing rental units feasible and affordable is a Rental Assistance Demonstration grant program that allows housing authorities to address deferred maintenance and needed improvements in public housing, according to Catron. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, allows housing authorities to borrow money for repairs, rather than depending upon allocations from Congress.
“These buildings, built in the 1970s or early 1980s, have not had a substantial rehab in more than 50 years. We are looking at $75,000 to $85,000 per unit in rehab costs, which will include new kitchens, new baths, new appliances, new flooring, new HVAC units, new windows and façade improvements,” Catron said of the buildings where the 128 rental units are located.
“This public-private partnership allows us to not only address current needs, but also position ourselves to be able to address future needs in the housing market,” she said. The RAD program opens the developments to private partners who will invest in the tax credits and bonds.
The RAD program allows housing authorities to take over ownership of its rental units from HUD and, like private landlords, have the ability to take out loans and make repairs. With units under HUD ownership, rather than local ownership, the housing authority did not have the ability to get loans. The RAD program now treats housing authorities like private landlords, with HUD providing funding under the project-based Section 8 program.
The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed. Support The Oak Ridger by subscribing. Offers available at https://subscribe.oakridger.com/offers .
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge Housing's $56M plan: 104 new rental units, renovating 128 public housing units ...
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