Maya McFadden Photo
Tenant leaders Montreal Johnson, Lygia Davenport, with housing authority VP Edward LaChance.
Montreal Johnson spoke of “HOPE” Wednesday. She meant it as an acronym meaning “hope opens peoples eyes.”
Johnson lives at the housing authority’s Rockview development in the West Rock neighborhood. As president of the Tenant Representiave Council (TRC) there, she has been working with the authority on plans for phase II of rebuilding the complex — and joined officials at a groundbreaking ceremony for the mixed-use project.
At the ceremony Johnson thanked the development team for putting the time into hearing from residents like herself and understanding their wants and needs.
Karen DuBois-Walton.
Housing authority officials, Mayor Toni Harp and Ward 30 Alder Michelle Edmonds-Sepulveda also attended the groundbreaking for the 78-unit development.
Construction on this phase should take about a year, according to housing authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton. The rebuilt mixed-income development will be made up of 62 affordable units and 16 market-rate units. DuBois-Walton said there will be 23 two-bedroom units, 51 three-bedroom units, and four four-bedroom units.
This phase ll development will be the seventh in 10 years undertaken by Housing Authority of New Haven and its separate nonprofit development arm, The Glendower Group. The project total 444 units of quality mixed-income rental and homeownership housing being brought back into the community.
The seven developments include a total rebuilding of the cluster of developments in the West Rock neighborhood, including Wilmont Crossing, Brookside phase l and ll, Brookside Homeownership, Rockview phase l and ll, and Twin Brook Estates.
“We have proven what a small group of committed individuals can do and we are not finished,” DuBois-Walton said.
The seven redevelopments total an overall investment of $212 million, which DuBois-Walton said drew largely on low-income housing tax credit programs.
“Today we continue our investment in our families,” DuBois-Walton said.
Johnson with Mayor Toni Harp.
During planning, Johnson and TRC Vice-President Lygia Davenport suggested improvements like a designated TRC office, basketball and tennis courts, central air in the homes, solar panels, generous storage space, and handicap accessible parking.
Next up will be rebuilding the nearby Westville Manor complex. The phase ll Rockview development will help to house 78 families from Westville Manor when that redevelopment begins.
“Any type of transition, when you have to wait on others, is hard,” Davenport said.
During the past year leading up to the groundbreaking, they said, they have dealt with many frustrated tenants. “Within our busy lives we try to keep residents with a clean conscience,” Johnson said.
The public-private partnership for the development between Glendower and its sponsors is “not about the buildings it’s about the people who live here,” said Tony Lyons, National Equity Fund (NEF) vice president relationship manager.