Meeting schedule
Tuesday› 10 a.m., Cromwell Hills Community Center› Noon, College Hill Courts Community Room› 4:30 p.m., East Lake Courts Community CenterOct. 10› Noon, East Lake Courts Community Center› 2 p.m. College Hill Courts Community Center› 4 p.m. Cromwell Hills Community Center
If all goes as the Chattanooga Housing Authority plans, Cromwell Hills Apartments will get a $38 million renovation including more than 50 new housing units.
It will no longer be public housing, but affordable housing with tax-credit funding, and everyone who lives there must have a job and/or attend school for at least 30 hours a week.
"We don't have the capital funds to do the renovation, but it needs renovation for people to live there. This is one way of getting the money," said Naveed Minhas, CHA's vice president of development.
CHA will host six community meetings on Tuesday and Oct. 10 at College Hill Courts, Cromwell Hills Apartments and East Lake Courts to explain plans for the sites. Each meeting will be identical in its information and agenda, said housing officials.
Residents will learn about the proposed renovation at Cromwell. CHA officials plan to encourage College Hill residents to consider being among the families who move into the 50 new units at Cromwell.
"Our message to the College Hill folks is that we're going to be rolling out this People First approach to dealing with College Hill," said CHA Executive Director Betsy McCright.
"We don't have enough money to revitalize the entire community. That's clear. But we thought we are developing new properties, as we have these 50 to 60 townhomes and these 200 revitalized units which should be very attractive, what if we offered some of those units to people who qualify from College Hill first?" McCright said.
"What if we start doing College Hill development by development? So if 30 people want to move to Cromwell, then instead of refilling the College Hill units, we would simply apply to demolish them and slowly take down the development."
McCright said that approach would be an improvement from the quick shutdown residents experienced at Harriet Tubman in 2012. She said she plans to inform East Lake Courts residents that no plan has been made for that site.
If all goes as planned at Cromwell, resident relocation could start as early as the first quarter of 2017 and construction start later that year, said Minhas.
Housing officials intend to apply for the tax credits in November. They'll know if they get it around February.
If the tax credits are awarded, housing officials will get bids for construction and get a contractor lined up to do construction and rehab.
The financing is a mixture of a bank loan, city funding, bonds and tax credits. No capital funds are used to build the site, said Minhas.
Cromwell Apartments sit on a hillside near Shallowford Road surrounded by trees and secluded from the sound of sirens and chaos common to some inner-city communities.
It's a place where parents can watch their children play on the playground without worrying about gunfire. The only problem is its buildings are in ill repair, according to residents.
Minhas estimates Cromwell Hills was built around the 1960s or 1970s. Housing units need new roofs, upgraded kitchens, new siding and some structural work. The flooring is so weak that it moves when people walk on it, he said.
But there is no money for repairs.
Donie Reynolds complained about bad wiring in her house, light fixtures that don't work and plumbing that surfaces along with bad smells in people's front yards.
Tan Johnson said she loves her community, but dislikes her apartment.
So much water leaks from her upstairs bathroom that water runs down her walls, behind kitchen appliances and eventually fills up the globe covering her light on the first floor.
"They need to tear them down," she said.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.