HUD stays mum on HOPE VI award recipients

After sponsoring a program to identify and honor the nation’s best HOPE VI public housing redevelopment projects, the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) declined to publicize the awards, which were administered by the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) and chosen by a jury chaired by Pasadena architect Stefanos Polyzoides. No one at the winning housing authorities was willing to speak on the record about the playing down of the awards program. However, “The New Face of America’s Public Housing Award” praised a program that the Bush Administration proposed discontinuing when previously appropriated funds run out. As of late September, HUD had not even issued a press release announcing the award recipients. The only overall public announement of the awards was apparently a May 30 press release from CNU, which named five projects as winners for general excellence: • City West in Cincinnati, submitted by Torti Gallas & Partners/CHK. • Curtis Park Redevelopment in Denver, submitted by Integral Properties, Abo Copeland Architecture, and Calthorpe Associates. • Martin Luther King Plaza Revitalization in Philadelphia, submitted by Torti Gallas. • New Holly in Seattle, submitted by the Seattle Housing Authority. • Park Du Valle in Louisville, submitted by Urban Design Associates. In the press release, then-CNU executive director Shelley Poticha declared, “These projects show that mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods with great streets are not an expensive luxury. They can be produced economically and attractively, with a huge return on investment.” Polyzoides asserted, “These projects show how the federal government, local housing authorities, and private designers and developers can partner up to maintain cities and towns.” The message in favor of HOPE VI came at a time when the Bush administration was having trouble getting Congress to end future funding for the program. In the past decade, Congress has appropriated about $5 billion for HOPE VI. The program was originally set to expire after ten years, and the Bush Administration has proposed that no new money be allocated for it. As of late September, the Senate had called for spending $195 million and the House had called for spending $50 million in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 of this year. The House and Senate have not held a conference to arrive at a figure that both legislative branches can support. In any event, it appears that funds for HOPE VI will be greatly reduced from the $494 million appropriated for the fiscal year that just ended. Since the program’s inception, 193 HOPE VI grants have been issued for redevelopment in 114 cities. Of those, 22 redevelopments have been completed. About $2.5 billion has been awarded but not yet spent. The slow pace has spurred criticism. The last of the current projects may not be completed until 2008-2010. HUD anticipated that around the end of this September the agency would issue a notice inviting housing authorities to apply for funds appropriated for the fiscal year ending this Oct. 1. CNU administered the awards program under a contract from HUD. The awards program came about when the HOPE VI program won the Innovations in American Government award from the Ford Foundation and the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The Innovations award came with a $100,000 Ford Foundation grant to communicate HOPE VI’s success and encourage more such endeavors. The five winning projects and six others that won certificates of recognition are to be recognized in a book from HUD and CNU. The book was to have been released this summer, but as New Urban News went to press, HUD had not yet given final approval for its publication.