Clearwater (FL) Housing Authority will begin repairs on two single family houses and a building that will be used for multi-family housing use, that should be ready next year for low-income households. Jacqueline Rivera, the housing authority’s CEO, and Deborah Woodard, chairwoman of the housing authority board, said clean up of a neglected 13-unit apartment building, known as Paradise Trail, is under way.

“It’s a quaint neighborhood that has some nice homes,” Rivera said, “But the property looks like garbage, really,” the ClearwaterGazette told MHProNews.

$575,000 was the purchase price in July 2013 for the 10,960 square foot two story building at 1111 Cardova Lane in Clearwater, FL. The Google street view photo above was from May 2014.

Once finished, Rivera says that rental property will feature nine one-bedroom and four two-bedroom units.

The Gazette states that the housing authority plans to renovate two troubled public housing properties, both single-family homes purchased in 2008. The property at 1537 Palmetto St. cost $210,000, while the residence at 1541 Palmetto St. was bought for $219,000. This is pending HUD approval to convert these into public housing units for affordable ownership, according to Rivera.

For 73 years, the housing authority has overseen projects, which currently include 215 public housing units and 529 mixed income “affordable” housing units, with 45% of those properties dependent on federal tax dollars.

The homes are expected to be available once the Federal Housing and Urban Development approves a request by the housing authority to covert these public housing units into affordable home ownership, according to Rivera.

The 73-year-old housing authority oversees 215 public housing units and 529 mixed-income affordable housing units in the city, she said. About 45 percent of those properties are dependent on federal dollars.

The Clearwater Housing Authority website states that there are currently 1,340 Section 8 vouchers, beyond the housing units they oversee.

From a PDF on their website, is their mission statement, which reads as follows.

Mission. State the PHA’s Mission for serving the needs of low-income, very low-income, and extremely low income families in the PHA’s jurisdiction for the next five years:

To lead in creating housing opportunities to enhance the lives of those we serve.

We will:

– Build communities with innovative programs.

– Sustain a dignified and desirable environment.

– Create alliances to nurture self-sufficiency.

Similar to the Daily Business News’ WilCo report, the irony is there are Florida based manufactured and modular home building centers which could fill these needs faster, greener and at a lower cost than the renovation projects that are in process. ##

(Photo credit: Google street view)