They won’t all be in new homes by Thanksgiving — but all of the families fleeing the crumbling Church Street South apartment complex will have the right to take their government subsidies wherever they’d like.
That was the gist of an update released Tuesday afternoon by the city; Northland Investment Corp., the Massachusetts-based owner of the 301-unit complex across from Union Station; and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which has been paying Northland $3.6 million a year to subsidize the rents.
The update concerns efforts to find new housing for all the families living in the 47-year-old complex, which officials plan to tear down to make room for building a new mixed-income development. Prodded by legal-aid lawyers, the city condemned many of the apartments as unsafe this year, and HUD finally declared Northland in default of its Section 8 rental subsidy contract. Church Street South has “deteriorated to a point beyond salvage,” the agencies reported.
The biggest news in the update is that HUD has approved “portable vouchers” for families to take to any landlord willing to accept Section 8 tenants. Until now, the tenants needed to navigate a more difficult process that was proving slow: finding a landlord willing to accept “pass-through” vouchers (tied to apartments, not families) transferred from Northland.
“The decision to give out portable vouchers is a game-changer for the tenants,” said New Haven Legal Assistance Association attorney Amy Marx, who has led the fight on behalf of over 60 Church Street South families.
Marx called Tuesday’s update a double win for New Haven — because in addition to helping the families move more quickly, it includes a commitment to preserve all 301 “project-based” Section 8 subsidies associated with Church Street South. That means that New Haven won’t lose affordable housing in the process: Project-based subsidies, since they’re tied to an apartment, remain in place, even if a family moves out. Marx earlier this month appealed to the Board of Alders Black & Hispanic Caucus to push for such a solution.
Another Month?
Officials had proclaimed a goal of moving all of the estimated 288 Church Street South families into permanent new housing by Turkey Day this Thursday. They’re not close.
But they’re making great “progress,” according to Tuesday’s release from the three agencies, and the portable-voucher decision will speed up the process.
Of 58 families temporarily living in hotels, 10 have moved into new apartments. Another 24 have identified apartments which should be ready soon.
The process has moved slowly because, until now, tenants have had to find landlords who’ll accept a temporary transfer form Northland of the current Church Street South “project-based” subsidy. Often that subsidy doesn’t cover the rent. Or the landlord isn’t willing to enter into a long-term lease, because Northland still technically would control the subsidy. Or, if the landlord says yes, it still takes a while for inspectors to get to all the potential new apartments to certify that they’re up to code.
HUD hopes to speed up the process in a second way beyond the use of portable vouchers: Reaching agreements with landlords of multi-unit complexes to permanently accept project-based subsidies under Section 8(bb)(1) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (as opposed to temporarily receiving them from Northland). HUD spokeswoman Rhonda Siciliano said the agency is in the process of negotiating with landlords, both in New Haven and outside the area, to assume those subsidies. Once that deals are set, she said, HUD will have a community meeting with Church Street South tenants to explain the complicated options.
Siciliano and Northland Chairman Larry Gottesdiener told the Independent Tuesday that they’re now aiming to get all families into new homes by Christmas. Listening, St. Nick?
Previous coverage of Church Street South:
• Pols Enlist In Church Street South Fight
• Raze? Preserve? Or Renew?
• Church Street South Has A Suitor
• Northland Faces Class-Action Lawsuit On Church Street South
• First Attempt To Help Tenants Shuts Down
• Few Details For Left-Behind Tenants
• HUD: Help’s Here. Details To Follow
• Mixed Signals For Church Street South Families
• Church St. South Families Displaced A 2nd Time — For Yale Family Weekend
• Church Street South Getting Cleared Out
• 200 Apartments Identified For Church Street South Families
• Northland Asks Housing Authority For Help
• Welcome Home
• Shoddy Repairs Raise Alarm — & Northland Offer
• Northland Gets Default Order — & A New Offer
• HUD, Pike Step In
• Northland Ordered To Fix Another 17 Roofs
• Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel
• Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild
• Harp Blasts Northland, HUD
• Flooding Plagues Once-Condemned Apartment
• Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders
• Complaints Mount Against Church Street South
• City Cracks Down On Church Street South, Again
• Complex Flunks Fed Inspection, Rakes In Fed $$
• Welcome Home — To Frozen Pipes
• City Spotted Deadly Dangers; Feds Gave OK
• No One Called 911 | “Hero” Didn’t Hesitate
• “New” Church Street South Goes Nowhere Fast
• Church Street South Tenants Organize