You are invited!
HUD HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 Disposition (Obsolescence) Public Housing Repositioning Application Resident Meetings
Helena Housing Authority (HHA) is preparing to submit a HUD Section 18 Disposition (Obsolescence) public housing repositioning application for its Stewart Homes public housing campus. This application is the first application in HHA’s overall public housing repositioning strategy. HUD’s approval of HHA’s Stewart Homes Section 18 application will then allow HHA to proceed on additional HUD public housing repositioning applications in a streamlined fashion.
Please join us at the following resident meetings to learn more about the upcoming HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 application and what you can expect as a resident as HHA undertakes public housing repositioning.
If you have any questions about the HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 application or to make written comments , please contact Michael O’Neil at 406-794-3251, or moneil@hhamt.org.
Please join us at these upcoming Resident Meetings to learn more about the HHA Stewart Homes HUD Section 18 application:
HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 Disposition Application Resident meetings
HHA Residents -particularly residents of Stewart Homes are invited to three upcoming resident meetings to learn more about the HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 Disposition application being submitted to HUD, and what Stewart Homes residents can expect during this process.
Thursday, June 13, 2024 5:30 P.M.
HHA HLC Building; 940 N. Roberts, Helena (at Stewart Homes), and Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88437740298?pwd=gSizV2EF2rQgLzHM9xW4WPbpausxnS.1
Meeting ID: 884 3774 0298
Passcode: 850425 Or by phone: 253-205-0468; 253-215-8782; 346-248-7799; 669-444-9171
Monday, June 17, 2024, 3:00 PM
HHA HLC Building; 940 N. Roberts, Helena (at Stewart Homes), and Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83927520900?pwd=uhv27YuI5fDZ7rEFhbCLixjygKHr3I.1
Meeting ID: 839 2752 0900
Passcode: 827313 Or by phone: 253-205-0468; 253-215-8782; 346-248-7799; 669-444-9171
HHA Residents’ Management Council Meeting
Tuesday June 18, 2024, 6:00 PM
ME Anderson Lobby, 100 S. Warren Street, Helena, and ZOOM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83472273758?pwd=lJSrkdYdht1WDp221omsdSrkBSTUVQ.1
Meeting ID: 834 7227 3758
Passcode: 457748; Or by phone: 253-205-0468; 253-215-8782; 346-248-7799; 669-444-9171
Agenda will include:
1) Review HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 Disposition Repositioning Application Submission- 1st Step in HHA’s public housing repositioning. HHA will discuss the Section 18 application and what Stewart Homes residents can expect during this process.
To learn more about HHA’s Section 18 application and information on public repositioning please see below.
Repositioning for Residents (click to learn more about repositioning)
www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/Repositioning_Residents_faqs.pdf
This document provides answers to frequently asked questions that Public Housing residents may have regarding repositioning.
Repositioning Guide for Medium and Large PHAs
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/Guide_Repositioning_Medium_Large_PHAs.pdf
Through this repositioning process HHA will obtain ownership and site control of its current public housing properties along with Section 8 Tenant Protect Project Vouchers to maintain rent assistance to residents similar to public housing. The overall repositioning strategy will allow HHA to receive a long-term improved HUD subsidy that will help support the recapitalization needed to fund the necessary improvements at existing HHA public housing properties. In addition, HHA will have property ownership releasing the properties from HUD current restrictions on building new additional affordable homes on the property.
HHA is planning to submit the HUD Section 18 Disposition (Obsolescence) public housing repositioning application by June 30, 2024, in advance of a recent HUD announcement to not accept repositioning applications after July 1, 2024, until HUD completes its adoption of a brand new comprehensive public housing data system called the Housing Information Portal. This data system transition does not have a clear defined timeline and could drag on for six or more months. For this reason, it is important for HHA to submit its application in advance of June 30, 2024, so as not to face indefinite delay for its public housing repositioning plans.
Background - Stewart Homes HUD Section 18 Disposition Application
HHA Stewart Homes consists of 132 public housing units and related service buildings on 13.4 acres in the center of Helena. It is among the oldest public housing properties in the country (the first phase built in 1940 and the second phase in 1952) and, because of the inadequacies and irregularities of the public housing funding system, it has never been comprehensively modernized and, as a result, suffers from extensive physical needs.
Under Section 18 as discussed in PIH Notice 2021-07, a non-elevator property, per an independent assessment, with demonstrated current physical needs exceeding 57.14% of the cost of new construction is determined to be “physically obsolete” and, therefore, eligible for both disposition and an award of Section 8 Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPVs). A public housing agency (PHA) can then, at its option, and subject to financial feasibility, project-base those TPVs (therein creating PBVs) as a preservation/repositioning strategy.
As demonstrated with an independent physical needs assessment conducted by a national expert, Dominion Due Diligence, the physical needs at Stewart Homes exceed $24.8 million, or 63.31% of HUD’s total development cost (TDC) limits, i.e., the property is physically obsolete. The agency plans to dispose of Stewart Homes to a HHA non-profit affiliate; project-base the Section 8 TPVs; and recapitalize the property with 4% and 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and other funding sources.
Impact on Residents
Because the goal of HHA is to preserve all 132 units as long-term affordable housing, there will be no permanent relocation. Initially, the public housing assistance will be replaced with project-based Section 8. Then, as HHA recapitalizes the property with 4% and 9% tax credits, expected in about 18 months following disposition, residents will be temporarily relocated to allow for renovations. In a small number of cases, some residents may need to move temporarily (less than 12 months) to other public housing in Helena but will retain the right to return to Stewart Homes following rehabilitation.
The expected timeline on rehabilitation and renovations at Stewart Homes is in the next two years to obtain funding and then complete improvements.
Method of Disposition
Per HUD requirements, HHA will dispose of Stewart Homes for $1 to one of its non-profit affiliates. Sales for less than market value are permitted to facilitate low-income housing.
(“commensurate public benefit”). HHA will then execute a 30-year use agreement, ensuring that the property remains as affordable housing. The overall goal is to then allow renovations and improvements to be completed at Stewart Homes in the next two years.
Projected Award of Section 8 Tenant Protect Vouchers (TPV)
Per Notice 2021-07, a project approved under Section 18 obsolescence is eligible for Section 8
TPVs for all units that have been occupied at least once within the previous 24 months of HUD’s approval of the Section 18 application. Stewart Homes is currently 100% occupied and, as such, HHA is eligible for 132 TPVs. All eligible residents will receive a TPV that will provide continued rental assistance.
If you have any questions about the HHA Stewart Homes Section 18 application or to make written comments, please contact Michael O’Neil at 406-794-3251, or moneil@hhamt.org