Public housing waitlist open for New Albany Housing Authority

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Sep. 26—NEW ALBANY — The waitlist has opened up for New Albany Housing Authority public housing.

David Duggins, executive director of NAHA, said the public housing waitlist has been closed "off and on" for the past three years as the authority focused on the rehousing of residents affected by the agency's renovations and demolitions.

"All those families and folks have been taken care of, and we've successfully moved everyone into either public housing or provided vouchers to move into a new location," he said. "That being said, we're at a point where we have vacancies."

As of Sept. 21, waitlist applications are available for the Broadmeade Terrace, Crystal Court, Mark Elrod Tower, Parkview Terrace, Parkview Tower, Riverside Terrace, Valley View Court and Vance Court housing developments.

The vacancies are primarily 2-bedroom homes, along with some 3-bedroom, Duggins said. A waitlist is also open for project-based vouchers to be used at the Crystal Court and Beechwood neighborhoods, he said.

If someone wants to get on a waitlist, it's important to see the process through, he said.

"It is very important that they get the information that is necessary for housing and to stay on top of that," Duggins said. "We have a lot of folks who come in, qualify and then they never turned their paperwork in. Six months from now, they come back in asking why they weren't housed."

Eligibility for NAHA housing is determined based on multiple factors, including income and household size. The agency is accepting applications 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Thursday at 300 Erni Ave.

The 16-story Riverview Tower, 500 Scribner Drive, will be coming down after Harvest Homecoming in October, Duggins said. The demolition will take a couple of weeks, and it will take a few months to clean up.

NAHA will put out a request for proposals (RFP) for the Riverview Tower property after the property has been cleared, he said.

The demolition of the 80-year-old Beechwood public housing units is ongoing, and it will take two years to rebuild the area into a mixed-income site, which will include both public and private housing. The development will involve 83 housing units and 12 market-rate housing lots.

The $28-million project is being funded through tax credits and $2.4 million in American Rescue Plan funding.

Residents of Riverview Tower and Beechwood have already been rehoused.

The renovation of Riverside Terrace, Valley View Court and Whispering Creek (formerly Cross Creek) apartments will be completed by January of 2023.

Duggins said NAHA will be looking at all of its housing developments over the next couple of years to consider what projects are needed.

He is excited to move forward with the renovation and construction projects.

"In the five years that I've been here, we've had the major renovations, the demolition of both Beechwood and Riverview Tower — we're very excited, and we're ahead of the curve," he said. "This is what HUD nationally is looking for local housing agencies to engage in. We're ahead of the curve, and we're very proud of that."