LOUISVILLE - Residents of the former Clarksdale housing development will move into new single-family homes in several Louisville neighborhoods in the coming months, Mayor Jerry Abramson said today. At a ceremony in the 500 block of East Breckinridge Street, the mayor and housing officials dedicated the first of hundreds of off-site homes that are part of the approximately $235 million Clarksdale revitalization.
The revitalization project includes the relocation of the more than 700
Clarksdale Homes residents in order to accommodate a new, mixed-income neighborhood to be called Liberty Green. The Louisville Metro Housing Authority is replacing every housing unit from the Clarksdale development either in the new Liberty Green development or elsewhere in the community."Our project partners have come together in a big way to help create what will be a new mixed income neighborhood at Liberty Green and a more diverse community throughout all of our neighborhoods," said Abramson."Like Park DuValle, we are proving that we can create a neighborhood where people from all walks of life, of all income levels, can live as a vibrant community."
Louisville Metro Housing Authority has partnered with New Directions
Housing Corp, Housing Partnership, Inc., River City Housing, and Metro
Housing Resource Center to build new replacement units off-site for former residents of Clarksdale Homes.
Phase I of the off-site development includes 176 units, both new
construction and by acquisition. Phase II will consist of an additional
218 units. All of these units are scattered throughout the community, and
honor the pledge of one-for-one replacement of affordable housing units
from Clarksdale.
Ohio Capital and US Bank are committing low-income housing tax credits
toward Phase I, totaling $12 million, which has assisted the Housing
Authority in leveraging the federal HOPE VI funds.
Clarksdale HOPE VI Goal
To develop a mixed-income community with heightened livability for
residents, reintegrate the site into the fabric of adjoining neighborhoods, and reduce the negative effects of concentrations of low-income families in one tightly constrained area.
Off-Site Development Status
Phase I acquisition completed: 107 units
Phase I construction to be completed in 2006: 69 units
Phase II acquisition and construction to begin in 2006: 218 units
Liberty Green Status (old Clarksdale site)
Phase I and II relocation: completed
Phase I demolition: completed (Phase II demolition complete by mid 2006)
Phase I construction: to be complete in 2008 (Phase II construction to
begin mid 2006)
Pat Bell, President of the Smoketown Neighborhood Association (at the podium), was one the featured speakers during the dedication ceremony.
