People need new affordable housing now

Reliance on federal funding, on the decline for years and now on President Donald Trump’s budget chopping block, “is no longer a plausible strategy” for affordable housing efforts, according to the Oklahoma City Housing Authority, which provides housing for more than 7,000 families.

Declining federal funding — even before the president took aim at Community Development Block Grants and other spending by the Department of Housing and Urban Development — had already “reached a level that makes managing our housing portfolio virtually impossible,” said Ian Colgan, assistant executive director of the authority. So what’s the plan? Colgan presented an overview of the housing authority’s Strategic Investment Plan to redevelop or rehabilitate 1,000 public housing units, and add hundreds more for specialized populations and mixedincome neighborhoods, at the recent Mayor’s Development Roundtable.

The 1,000 units, he said, “represent 75 percent of our deferred capital and maintenance needs, and will allow the authority the ability to stabilize its portfolio while creating high-quality housing that can better integrate into the community.”

He said the authority’s nonprofit development corporation, Community Enhancement Corp., has the first two projects underway.

•Renovation of Sooner Haven, 1444 NE 36, will be complete next year, providing upgraded housing for 150 families, plus improved landscaping and community features.

“We hope the renovated property, together with the recently renovated shopping center at 36th and Kelley, will assist in the transformation of this part of northeast Oklahoma City,” Colgan said.

•Construction should

start this summer on John

H Johnson Care Suites, NW 122 and Western Avenue, for 130 new units of affordable assisted living.

“Currently there are only 90 units of this type of product in existence in the city, but it serves an enormous need for elderly who need assistance with the activities of daily life and can’t live independently,” Colgan said. “Currently, their only option is to pay market rates for assisted living — as much as $3,000 to $4,000 per month — or

to go straight into a nursing home because that is what Medicaid will pay for.

“Every year, hundreds of lowincome seniors are housed in nursing homes when they actually need assisted living, an option cheaper both to the resident, as well as the state.”

Beyond those two specifics, Colgan said the need isn’t just for more housing units, but for new and revitalized “complete neighborhoods” — those where the goods and services needed for daily life are safely and conveniently available regardless of income.

“Oklahoma City is far behind other comparable cities in its production of this type of housing,” he said. “The city already has fewer long-term subsidized units than any comparably sized city. In the next 10 years, we estimate that as much as one-third of this existing subsidized housing stock will end their mandated affordability periods, giving them the option of turning market-rate.

“This means that if the city manages to double its rate of new production over the next decade, it is possible that we won’t even be able to make up for all the existing affordable housing that could be lost. Therefore preservation becomes as important as production.”

Cities have a ranges of options in dealing with housing affordability, from incentives to mandates, he said.

“It remains unclear what is best for Oklahoma City. But one thing is clear that we can learn from: The ultimate solution must be local and tailored to our market. Reliance upon federal funding is no longer a plausible strategy to alleviate housing affordability issues.”

NEXT: More on “complete neighborhoods” — and a bright spot for the future.