US HUD agency awards $180M in demo grants

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $180 million to four cities to help fund demolition and redevelopment efforts as part of its Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grants program.

According to HUD, the four cities whose grant requests will be funded are: Omaha, Nebraska ($50 million); Tulsa, Oklahoma ($50 million); Durham, North Carolina ($40 million); and Knoxville, Tennessee ($40 million).

The Choice Neighborhoods program has been designed to help cities replace aging HUD-assisted housing with a new development, potentially consisting of mixed-income housing. HUD says if redevelopment in projects in the four cities go according to plan, its grants will help to fund more than 2,300 new units of housing.

From a demolition perspective, in Omaha, planners intend to “rebuild” the Southside Terrace Garden Apartments, which will involve replacing the current 358-apartment complex.

In Tulsa, plans call for replacing the 271-unit Comanche Park Apartments with a new mixed-use development that will include additional apartment space.

In Knoxville, a 196-unit housing complex called the Western Heights Addition is being slated for demolition, to be replaced by a mixed-use development. The Durham project focuses on the renovation of existing buildings.