By Matthew Teague
The Raleigh Housing Authority was awarded a $29 million federal grant Monday to help tear down and rebuild the city's oldest public housing development.
The authority has long wanted to replace Halifax Court's rows of brick buildings with single-family homes, but it needed federal housing money. To get it, the authority had to meet some demands - mainly, to make sure current residents of Halifax's 318 units would not be left out in the cold after the project was finished.
Monday, on the third attempt in three years, the housing authority received $29,368,114 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant was announced by HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo in a conference call.
In about six weeks, Halifax Court residents will begin moving into apartments provided by the housing authority, and next summer construction should begin on 200 homes on the site. At the same time, the authority plans to buy an additional 140 homes away from Halifax Court to help house its residents.
"We're darned excited," said Steve Beam, director of the authority. "For the last three years the key word at work has been 'hope.' " He means that literally. The HUD grant is part of the federal Hope VI program, aimed at fixing up America's worst public housing. When the housing authority first applied for the grant three years ago, it came away with its financial tail tucked between its legs.
"The plan has evolved a great deal since then," Beam said.
Last year, the plan fell just short of HUD's expectations. This year it won, mostly because the housing authority won more support from the residents by addressing their concerns about their future housing, Beam said.
The effects of the grant could reach as far as Durham. Last year, housing officials there tried to get the same grant but were turned down.
Ernest Mangum of the Durham Housing Authority said he hopes the improvements in Raleigh will persuade residents in Durham to push for similar changes in 2000. Specifically, he said, the authority is deciding whether Few Gardens or McDougal Terrace would be a better candidate for a grant. Its last application was for Few Gardens.
When 80-year-old Halifax resident James Nettles heard the dollar amount headed for the Raleigh development, he raised his head out of a trash container in his neighborhood.
"That's nice," he said. "That is nice."
He retrieved a small flower from the container and turned away. "Sure, I'd like to live somewhere nice, where they've got pretty gardens," he said.
More than 700 people live, park and play at Halifax, on 20 acres. Nettles pointed to his own apartment, his sandy front yard awash with color. He said he rummages through trash containers all day and collects flowers, some plastic, all secondhand, then sets them out in plastic pots.
"I'm 80 years old," he said. "What else am I going to do?"
Some of the elderly and disabled among Halifax's residents were troubled by the housing authority's early plans to tear down their neighborhood. The community is 60 years old, and people who have lived there for decades were not eager to leave.
The authority plans to move residents back into the neighborhood once it is modernized but there is one condition: Everyone, except the elderly and disabled, has to have a job.
"I feel confident that the new plan will take care of everybody," said Eddie Pittman, president of the Halifax housing coalition. He is a disabled former schoolteacher, and he sat Monday in his sweltering apartment, considering the changes.
"Everybody is behind improvement, of course. But if they tell me we're all moving to Chavis Heights while they tear down Halifax, I'm going to be upset," he said, referring to another public housing development. "In other words, we would be leaving one dump and moving into another dump."
That's all taken care of, Beam said. Here's what will happen: All residents will be moved to homes around town while Halifax Court's homes are demolished. Residents can choose other public housing, or they can accept vouchers and take their chances in Raleigh's competitive market.
Ninety of the 340 homes to be financed by the grant will be set aside for elderly people, and some homes will have subsidized rents for low-income families. About 45 will be open to the general market. The current Halifax residents will have first choice on the new homes, and will pay the same rate they are paying now, provided each renter has found a job.
That's where the benefits of the HUD grant begin to spread beyond Halifax Court. Nearby business owners will get a $5,000 rebate from the housing authority for employing a Halifax resident for at least one year. In the nearby Mordecai neighborhood, homeowners can get $25,000 loans to fix up their homes. The loans will be financed by the Hope VI grant, in an effort to improve the entire area.
"There are a lot of private developers in that area that have been waiting to see if we would get this grant," Beam said. "Now I think they'll be willing to invest."
Some of the largest developments could come from Peace College. About four years ago, the school started offering four-year scholarships, but because the campus is next to Halifax it had no room to grow. With the changes, Beam said, Peace will be able to snap up the property it needs. Halifax Court sits on 24 acres, of which 4 acres is vacant and will be available for sale.
Laura Bingham, president of the college, did not address any specific development Monday, but eagerly congratulated the housing authority on winning the grant.
"The awarding of this grant signals a new era of opportunity for our neighbors ... and for all of downtown Raleigh," she said. "Peace intends to embrace the project and partner with Halifax Court in ways that will make a difference in the lives of residents, our students and the many community volunteers with an interest in Halifax Court."
Andrea Weaver, the school's spokeswoman, said the college might deploy students to help elderly Halifax residents or undertake community projects.
All that broad-reaching improvement sounds great, said Eddie Pittman, the Halifax community leader. But he's skeptical. He said he will stick with Halifax like a captain sticks with his ship.
"I want to be the last one out," he said. "I want to see that everything is carried out as promised. I want to see the residents in good living conditions."
