WILMINGTON — The redevelopment of the local housing authority’s oldest neighborhood has stalled for more than a year, but new leadership is bringing the plan back to the fore.
The Wilmington Housing Authority released requests for proposals from developers last summer and hoped to find a partner to transform the 1940s Hillcrest community into a mixed-use, modernized neighborhood.
READ MORE: Hillcrest to be bulldozed, rebuilt as ‘vibrant’ mixed-use development
It’s the main priority in executive director Tyrone Garrett’s physical needs assessment, planned for all eight WHA communities.
While still in the very preliminary stages, Garrett explained the Hillcrest project had been on hold since executive director Katrina Redmon left the position in September 2021.
Hillcrest currently comprises 256 units across roughly 25 acres on Dawson Street, between 13th and 16th streets. The concrete one-story dwellings were built as temporary housing, are now 80-plus years old and have been deteriorating, some detected with mold.
The plan is to demolish the units and rebuild from scratch, incorporating amenities, community space and “mixed-income” housing. Rent will remain the same: 30% of a tenant’s current income.
WHA leadership said it’s years out before construction begins, so a relocation plan for Hillcrest residents has not yet been determined. Though Garrett assured they will incorporate feedback from those currently residing in the units.
“So they don’t feel like they’re in limbo,” he said. “It’s been talked about before, but they felt as though nothing manifested itself previously.”
The biggest obstacle now is locating the money to develop the project, which currently doesn’t have an estimated cost or timeline.
It will be built in phases and require approval by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
WHA will work with the Florida-based developer Related Urban and HUD on financing, an environmental assessment, how to handle the demolition and a redesign, and to craft a relocation plan for residents.
Garrett said the developers, chosen by the board in March, visited the location multiple times; he hopes to have a signed agreement in place by the end of the year.
“We’ve been feeling each other out, talking about conceptual things,” Garrett said.
Part of the redesign will include landscaping and potential tree loss. The Alliance of Cape Fear Trees has planted nearly 200 trees around WHA neighborhoods since 2015. Its director Connie Parker said it sent multiple letters to the board, the last on Sept. 29, asking to be involved.
The nonprofit identified, after taking an informal inventory, at least 50 mature live oaks and dogwoods on the property that should be preserved.
“We want to help and save some trees and get in on the ground floor of the plans,” director Connie Parker said.
Garrett said he is definitely open to preserving trees; however, he has not spoken to the alliance about its plans.
“And without a site plan, WHA cannot commit to anything at this point,” he added.
“The story we get every time, so to speak, is they’re not quite there to discuss that,” Parker said. “What we’re worried about is they’ll discuss it, and it will be done.”
Before Hillcrest is tackled, Garrett said WHA will likely start its rehabilitation project at Solomon Towers. The work could begin in the second quarter of 2024 “if all dominos fall into place,” Garrett surmised.
Not nearly as extensive as the full-blown demolition Hillcrest is projected for, residents may still have to move into a temporary unit within the same building during upgrades and repairs. They will not be displaced from the location or for a long period of time.
Needed improvements include updating the building’s façade, reinforcing balconies, applying fresh paint to interior walls, upfitting bathrooms to be more amenable to seniors, replacing cabinets, and fixing infrastructure, such as the elevators.
Built in 1972, Solomon Towers has never undergone major rehabilitation.
“It’s time,” he said, “especially when you haven’t done any major upgrades in years.”
After Solomon Towers, WHA will investigate a redevelopment opportunity with Houston Moore.
But, first, Garrett will look at 1,200 units across 18 different sites. He wants to release an RFQ within the next 30 days for third-party vendors to perform a complete analysis of properties.
A physical needs assessment for WHA properties is typically conducted every five to seven years, according to Garrett; the last one was completed in 2017. It will likely cost the authority up to $100,000 to be paid for out of HUD’s capital funding allocation.
“My goal is, this will take us into the next seven years and identify projects needed during that period of time,” Garrett explained.
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