By Mary Hladky
The City Council agreed to lend the Boca Raton Housing Authority $640,000 that will make it possible to compete for a Florida Housing Finance Corp. grant to help pay for the planned reconstruction of the Dixie Manor public housing complex.
The housing authority and Atlantic Pacific Communities are co-developers of the reconstruction project, which is expected to cost $43.3 million. They would stand no chance of getting the FHFC grant unless the council had made a loan commitment of at least $640,000 to demonstrate city support for the project.
If the developers obtain the grant, they would get low income housing tax credits valued at $24.6 million that would cover more than half of the project’s cost. If they aren’t awarded the grant, they will seek other funding and the loan would not be made.
Dixie Manor, located in the historic Pearl City neighborhood, is badly dilapidated, and housing authority board members and residents agree it needs to be replaced.
But Congress has underfunded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which finances housing authorities, for decades and no money has been available to build new housing.
So HUD proposes “repositioning” public housing, which essentially means removing the housing from the public housing program with the intent of giving housing authorities access to debt and equity that have not been available to them to finance their capital needs.
The process has been fraught at Dixie Manor, at 1350 N. Dixie Highway, because residents of the 95-unit complex fear changes that might push them out of their units at a time when low-cost apartments simply do not exist in the private market. Housing authority officials say any resident who wants to return after the rebuilding will be able to do so.
Residents have become engaged over the last 18 months, attending housing authority meetings, questioning every aspect of how the redevelopment will be done and seeking more power on the housing authority board. They successfully pressed the City Council to expand the board from five to seven members.
The board’s membership has changed dramatically and now includes public housing residents.
The council in November reappointed to the board Angela McDonald, a Dixie Manor resident who organized her neighbors and insisted on accountability. She now chairs the board.
On Dec. 13, the council appointed Danielle Iverson, who learned about Dixie Manor from McDonald and advocated for its residents before deciding to seek office herself.
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