Premier Management officials said limited resources means the agency must prioritize facility projects and focus on the most pressing needs.
“We’re trying to spread those (improvements) out in the most efficient manner, so we can get the most bang for our buck,” said Jennifer Heapy, executive director of Greater Dayton Premier Management.
The agency wants to demolish a variety of housing units in west Dayton that are old and densely packed into a small area, which is part of national efforts to prevent and reduce concentrated areas of poverty, such as housing projects.
Premier Management receives various federal funding for operating subsidies, its voucher program and capital improvements.
Vouchers provide rental assistance for recipients to use in the private sector, with monthly payments averaging $436.
Premier Management distributes about 3,400 vouchers each month, but the demand outstrips the supply. Nearly 7,500 people applied for housing subsidies in January when Premier Management opened its voucher waiting list for the first time since 2008.
Premier Management also owns and operates 2,749 housing units at 73 sites. On average, rent for public housing is about $209. The program’s waiting list is about 2,800 people.
Funding for the voucher program has edged down, and the federal operating subsidy has fallen by millions of dollars in recent years, the agency said.
But capital funding took an especially big hit.
For 2015, Premier Management requested about $22 million in capital funds, which is how much it would cost to renovate and modernize all of the agency’s public housing, officials said. Premier Management’s housing units on average are 40 years old.
“If HUD were to fund us for everything we needed, they would have to write us a check for about $20 million,” Heapy said.
However, the agency was awarded about $3.8 million, of which about $3 million is available for projects. It was an increase in funding from 2014, but has fallen from $5.6 million in 2009.
Capital funds pay for new roofs, furnaces, air conditioning and facility maintenance.
Premier Management plans on using its 2015 award to replace roofs, install energy efficient windows, upgrade mechanical systems and address foundation issues.
“We have an older housing stock, so with that comes a tremendous amount of upkeep and prioritizing,” Heapy said.
Heapy said it is clear the capital funding awards will not meet the agency’s facility needs, and it will pursue additional federal funding through other programs.
Premier Management also uses capital funds to pay for demolition.
Premier Management plans to demolish 15 buildings at the Hilltop Homes development, eliminating 52 units. Hilltop Homes — which has 59 buildings, consisting of 202 units — is located near U.S. 35 and Gettysburg Avenue.
The agency also wants to demolish 30 housing units spread across four buildings at Olive Hills, which is located near West Third Street and Union Road.
Each project could cost between $500,000 to $700,000, officials said.
Premier Management has budgeted for the removal projects, but the applications for demolition are pending with HUD, and it could take eight to 12 months to get approval, said Kiya Patrick, Premier Management’s senior manager of planning and development.
“Once we get approval, we’ll start,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll get an approval this year.”
HUD has focused on “deconcentrating” public housing to improve safety and residents’ quality of life.
The department wants to have higher-income residents move into some developments where lower-income residents are clustered, and assist lower-income residents relocate to higher-income developments.
The best type of public housing is fully integrated within a community, placed in areas near employers, said Jim McCarthy, president and CEO of Miami Valley Fair Housing Center.
Smaller, scattered clusters of public housing or housing supported by vouchers is preferable than the large public housing “projects” of the 1960s and ’70s, he said.
“As a fair housing advocate, I’m a strong supporter of the deconcentration of public housing — but not the reduction of public housing,” he said.
Residents who live in the units targeted for demolition will receive replacement vouchers when they have to move.
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