With more than 5,000 people on the waiting list for public housing in Durham, the city is working to expand the pool of housing with the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) building or redeveloping 1,700 units, almost half of which will be public housing.
By limiting the number of units in the plan that will be set aside as public housing, the DHA is looking to avoid creating a situation where certain neighborhoods will house only the disenfranchised.
“We don’t want to build large pockets of poverty,” Anthony Scott, CEO of the DHA, told ABC 11 News. “Let’s build it so that it’s a mix of income.”
Fifty-three percent will be rented at market prices, while 47% will be used for public housing. The city currently has 450 public housing units, so this would nearly triple the number.
Each segment of the plan, funded through a $95 million housing bond voted on in 2019, takes about 16 months to complete, though COVID-19 challenges have pushed back the starting dates for some phases.
Some of the housing in the plan calls for tearing down and rebuilding existing homes. For example, the 214 Liberty Street apartments on East Main will be razed and replaced with 550 units paired with retail space and a grocery store. The goal is that no current public housing tenants will be displaced, Scott said.
Other neighborhood improvements are planned for the same section of East Main, with redevelopment of the Durham Police Headquarters and Social Services building, among other upgrades.
Another existing housing site that’s due for change is the Forest Hills Apartments on Mangum Street, where the current 55 units will become 700 affordable and market-rate units with retail options.
The DHA effort is not without controversy. Development group Hayti Reborn is objecting to part of the plan because it charges that the DHA violated its own policy in choosing the developer. The DHA denied that.
Still, the overall reception among Durham residents has been favorable.
“I didn’t realize it was going to look like this,” tenant Martha Kenion told the ABC 11 News about her renovated apartment. “When I walked in, I said, wow. I was speechless. This is all I have. If they have developers that could understand that, Durham would be a greater place to stay.”
