Desire housing development breaks ground 10 years late

AFTER ALMOST 10 years of delays and two groundbreakings, construction finally began last week on the Desire HOPE VI Revitalization Project.

"The nightmare is over," says Alphonso Jackson, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "The tragedy ends today. And,

In 1994, New Orleans received a $44.2 million grant to reconstruct the Desire housing project into a mixed-income development. The housing development was razed the following year. But, tenants waited until Thursday to see the project come to fruition.

"I'm still optimistically cautious," Davis said. "I'm very happy that they're starting the work, but we've been to two groundbreakings before and nothing. We have to get to 575 units before I'll be completely happy."

Once completed, the new Desire community will include 283 public housing units, 142 rental units and 150 singlefamily homes. The first phase of the project, which includes 73 multifamily units and an undisclosed amount of singlefamily dwellings, is expected to be completed in 12 months.

Construction is being handled by Abundance Square Limited Partnership and Intercity Development Group, both based in New Jersey.

In his address, Jackson criticized the past mayoral administration for not focusing on the housing needs of New Orleans' less fortunate.

The HUD deputy secretary also credited Mayor Ray Nagin for getting the Desire HOPE VI project back on track.

Meanwhile, Jackson said he does not support developer Pres Kabacoff's plan to rebuild the HOPE VI project at the former St. Thomas housing site as a low-income development. Earlier this month, Kabacoff said he would abandon the proposed mixed-income development if the City Council did not vote on a tax increment financing plan, which pays for the site's market-rate units. Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt had the TIF issue withdrawn from the Nov. 7 agenda, hoping to negotiate with Kabacoff further for more low-income units for the project.

The TIF diverts sales taxes from the 200,000-square-foot WalMart Supercenter, which will anchor the new St. Thomas development, to subsidize the project.

"HOPE VI was created to integrate housing, both socially and economically, and that's what it's going to do. There will not be a HOPE VI just to go back to what we had in conventional housing, not as long as I'm the chief operating officer for the agency," Jackson said.