ADVOCATES PRAISE ONE-FOR-ONE REPLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS IN LATEST CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS INITIATIVE AWARD

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Washington, D.C. – September 7, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a total of $122 million to five communities for the redevelopment of distressed public and assisted housing.

The funding award, made through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), comes with the requirement that agencies receiving awards must develop or rehabilitate one unit of affordable rental housing for every housing unit demolished during the redevelopment process. One-for-one replacement is essential for the preservation of the low income housing stock, but has not been realized to date under current redevelopment initiatives.

“One-for-one replacement of affordable units is of primary importance in the effort to ensure low income people have access to safe, affordable housing,” said Sheila Crowley, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “Efforts to revitalize the public housing stock through the HOPE VI program have resulted in the loss of well over 100,000 affordable homes. This was a tragic loss. I applaud HUD’s effort to right this wrong by requiring one-for-one replacement in CNI redevelopment.”

While HOPE VI focuses solely on revitalizing severely distressed public housing, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is focused on transforming entire neighborhoods as well as the public housing and project-based Section 8 housing stock within them. The five awardees- the City of Boston, Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. in Chicago, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, the San Francisco Housing Authority, and the Seattle Housing Authority- will receive the first-ever Implementation Grants awarded under the CNI demonstration program.

“The advocacy of public housing residents and their allies for one-for-one replacement helped bring about this positive result,” said Ms. Crowley. “Advocates must continue to engage with public housing agencies, local governments, and HUD throughout the redevelopment process to ensure CNI goals, such as one-for-one replacement, are accomplished.”

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Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low Income Housing Coalition is a membership organization dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.

Contact:
Amy Clark, (202) 662-1530 x 227

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