Turner touts affordable housing plan
Mayor highlights sites of 11 projects amid battle over HUD investigation
Mayor Sylvester Turner drew attention to City Council’s approval on Wednesday of 11 subsidized housing developments — many in affluent areas — as the city continues to fight a federal accusation that its housing policies perpetuate segregation.
The city routinely signs off on such projects to little fanfare, but Turner pointed to Houston’s role in backing proposed projects in so-called high-opportunity neighborhoods as indicative of its commitment to providing housing opportunities citywide.
“The whole intent is to bring affordable housing to the city. There are a number of people that need it, and it needs to be throughout the city of Houston,” Turner said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last month found Houston in violation of the Civil Rights Act for “blocking and deterring affordable housing proposals in integrated neighborhoods.” The agency specifically faulted Turner for rejecting a subsidized housing project in the wealthy Galleria area, determining his decision was based in part on “racially motivated opposition.”
Turner reiterated Wednesday that he disagrees with HUD’s findings and plans to ask the agency to withdraw its letter, though a HUD spokeswoman said the city has yet to formally respond.
Elizabeth Julian, a former HUD assistant secretary for fair housing, said a withdrawal would be “highly unusual.”
“Ordinarily, issues or concerns about any of the specific findings are the subject of negotiations that work themselves out in the terms of a voluntary
compliance agreement,” Julian said.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.
In the shadow of HUD’s investigation, Houston’s housing department developed new criteria this year for reviewing projects seeking competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credits. It favored renovation projects with large units that are located in low-poverty neighborhoods with good schools.
Two of the 11 projects approved Wednesday would be located within Loop 610, and the remainder would be further west, three within city limits and six just outside.Their average neighborhood poverty rate is roughly 14 percent, according to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and all but one is considered high-opportunity.
Turner highlighted Heritage Apartments, a proposed 112-unit complex 1.4 miles from the Houston Housing Authority’s project at 2640 Fountain View that he nixed last year. Fountain View would have been the agency’s first development in a low-poverty, low-crime neighborhood with good schools and access to jobs — a scenario that research has shown benefits children long-term.
Amid vocal community and political opposition, however, Turner declined to bring the project to a City Council vote, citing “costs and other concerns.”
Heritage Apartments at 2666 Marilee, proposed by a private developer, involves rehabilitating existing apartments rather than building new and is projected to be less expensive than Fountain View: $187,000 per unit compared with $240,000.
It, too, is zoned to Briargrove Elementary, although the area’s poverty rate is more than double Fountain View’s rate of 7 percent.
Fair housing advocate John Henneberger, who has pressured Houston to remedy its pattern of concentrating low-income housing in minority neighborhoods, applauded City Council’s move to back the 11 apartment complexes as an “important first step.”
However, he also urged the city to allow Fountain View to move forward and to allocate funds for projects in high-opportunity neighborhoods.
“Houston must do more than simply not stand in the way of housing integration,” Henneberger wrote in an email. “The city needs to take concrete action to permit available federal funds within its control to be used to build affordable housing in low-poverty neighborhoods where none is now available.”
City Council reviews developments applying for competitive tax credits annually and has signed off on 42 projects from 2014 through 2016, according to records provided by the city’s housing department.
Last year’s approved developments were in neighborhoods with an average poverty rate of about 10 percent. Proposed Houstonarea developments must be in census tracts where the poverty rate is below 20 percent to be considered high-opportunity.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs ultimately decides which projects are awarded tax credits.