Joe Wright Village won’t be occupied until fall
The first six units will all be brought online together.
The first three units in the new Joe Wright Village public housing community are nearing completion, but are not likely to be rented until October at the earliest.
Martin Duke, Northwest Georgia Housing Authority coordinator of new construction, said that federal requirements make it easier to wait until the next three units on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard are completed, to bring all six online at the same time.
Two single-family homes and one duplex unit are nearly finished and awaiting work by a flooring contractor.
Framing work is well underway on the next three units, two duplexes and a single-family home.
Duke told the board it is going to have to pay for the relocation of four street lights that Georgia Power installed based on initial plans for the Joe Wright Village development that had to be revised.
Duke also said the City Commission has cleared the way for redevelopment in East Rome, starting this summer with bids for construction of two duplex units on E. 12th Street and a single family home at 1300 Maple St.
The NWGHA has been attempting to lead a major revitalization of East Rome for close to a decade, but has lost out on several competitive grant applications to help finance the redevelopment.
Melvin Scott, director of security for the authority, told the board more than 1,000 people, including applicants, relatives and children, are on the waiting list for public housing. A construction crew starts framing another two-bedroom home in the Joe Wright Village public housing community across from the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds. Two
duplex units are already framed in the back ground. The first six units, three single-family homes and three duplexes are expected to be ready for residents in October.