HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — According to District 4 City Councilman Bill Kling, with any new project, there are a few things to consider. "Question I would ask is look at the numbers of the apartment complexes that we have all over the city. There are several newly constructed properties all over Huntsville, and there seems to be a lack of occupancy."
Kling shares there could be away to fill those spaces and get people into affordable housing without waiting for mill creek to be built. "With all these thousands and thousands of apartments, are there an overwhelming number of vacancies that would benefit by having people have vouchers to live in these apartments versus spending, you know, tens of millions of dollars on building a new building. Basically, what could be done is a procedure that has been done in the past where instead of building a new building and having a concentration of low income into one area, housing vouchers can be given, and they can be dispersed throughout the community."
Using these vouchers to fill up space would help keep money for other projects. "Anything that we do, we've got to make sure we're spending the city tax money the best that we can," Kling shares. "The more capital money that goes into these types of projects is going to be the less money that we could use for things like new roads that we still need because of the traffic flow issues."
Kling says he not at all opposed to the building of Mill Creek. "All I would say is that this is something I think we need to look into. I haven't come out and made a decision that I'm opposed to a construction it's just that i want to find out all the answers all the questions because again, we're talking about a lot of money."
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Scott Erwin, manager of Community Development for the City of Huntsville says the city is working proactively to address affordable housing. "We need to make sure that our housing stock, our housing inventory is attainable for all income levels within our community.," Erwin shares. "As Huntsville grows, a lot of good paying jobs are coming in but also council has directed the Community development Department to identify a new position that can sort of coordinate those activities. So, we work on that each and every day."
Now those talks of affordable housing are moving forward in the planning stages. "So back in about three years ago, three half years ago, we submitted an application to Hud for a planning grant, and applying grant was to identify a distressed public housing asset within a community and how we could redevelop and transform the public housing site with a mixed-use mixed income model, but also facilitate growth and economic development for the entire area," Erwin shares.
The Mill Creek Transformation Plan proposes 750 residential units – a mix of market rate, housing authority, workforce and senior housing. "The project area is what is currently Butler Terrace and Johnson Towers," Erwin shares. "So, think of the governor's drive to Clinton Avenue bounded by east on Seminole to that general vicinity there, which is across from Low Mill, the north, not too far from Campus. 805 very near the core of downtown, so the architecture will look like any other new development in town. long Governors Drive in downtown, in Mid-city. It'll be unique to Huntsville, and it won't have a standardized, look like 50 year ago public housing. It'll look very updated and modern but amenities."
In the first of 3 public sessions, the community got a chance to voice their opinions on the project. " So, we expect for more people to come that's not in the community to come to understand one, what the residents are desiring, what is required by HUD as it relates to the senior grant," Turkessa Lacey, Deputy Director of the Huntsville Housing Authority shares. "So, we're open to any conversations we want to be able to provide our community with facts.
This project is the first step in Huntsville response to affordable housing. "This is an opportunity for Huntsville to do something, you know, pretty remarkable," Erwin explains "To have a transformational project of 25 plus acres near downtown Huntsville. Now, a policeman, a fireman, a nurse, Huntsville hospital, teachers, you know, will be able to move into this development, have it affordable, and maintain the proximity to some of the employment centers."