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Public Housing Redevelopment at Creighton Court

Howdy neighbors! NBC12 covered this story, click this link to read more about.

Here are some other links I’ve gathered that surrounds the topic.

Creighton Court demolition endorsed by RRHA’s Board of Commissioners; no timetable shared

https://www.rrha.com/revitalize-rva/public-housing-transformation-programs/east-end-creighton-court-transformation/


This snippet is taken from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) , but it looks like they’re continuing more construction in 2021.

Given by the NBC12 article.

That’s it for this one, folks!

2 comments

Lee 02/22/2020 at 12:25 PM

Reading through some of the linked NBC12 articles, I noticed something interesting. It sounds as if the new properties will be run using a private property model, rather than a project based housing model. Residents of Creighton Court will be given section 8 housing vouchers, and the option to lease the new apartments at the old Armstrong high school site before anyone else.

However, and this is where it gets interesting, former Creighton Court residents will have to APPLY for the new apartments, which raises some questions: What will the credit, background, and income requirements for the new properties be? Will displaced Creighton Court residents be required to meet the same standards as new applicants?

If RRHA does intend to apply minimum credit standards, income standards, or weed out folks with unsatisfactory background checks, it looks suspiciously like the housing authority may be using the redevelopment as a way to get rid of what they perceive (fairly or not) to be their worst tenants. If that is in fact the case, where will these people go? If RRHA doesn’t want them, I can’t imagine many private sector landlords would be willing to accept them as Tenants, making their section 8 housing vouchers more or less useless.

But I’m just speculating…

Reply
Kiet Vo 02/24/2020 at 10:59 AM

Hey Lee!

Those are really good questions and concerns. I also noticed in one of the links that it doesn’t seem like a lot of notice was given to both the current inhabitants nor the Board.

“On Wednesday, the board backed CEO Damon E. Duncan’s request to take the next step in redeveloping the East End neighborhood: razing 192 of the 504 units, according to a resolution unanimously adopted after no discussion among board members.

In a move that Duncan said was not unusual, the vote came two days after RRHA sent a demolition application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

‘It’s my understanding that Creighton Court revitalization was contemplated years ago, so some things don’t need to continue to be re-vetted over and over and over,’ Duncan said when asked why his administration submitted an application without first gaining the board’s approval or soliciting public comment. ‘This is just a step along the way in the process.'”

I chose not to include those in the post since I personally didn’t know enough info to make any informed statements. Would be a fascinating topic to dive into though if I can find the right leads!

Reply

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