The city of Waco is working to persuade federal officials that the shuttered Parkside Village should not be redeveloped as another low-income housing complex.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week offered the empty 10-acre complex to the city for redevelopment.

The city of Waco would like to turn the shuttered Parkside Village apartment complex into mixed-income housing.
Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald

But City Manager Larry Groth said the offer came with a “tremendous amount of strings attached” that could make it a financial liability for the city.

The city would be responsible for finding a developer and guaranteeing that the former Section 8 housing complex at 1323 N. Ninth St. is redeveloped, starting with the demolition of existing buildings, he said.

And he said HUD wanted to restrict the use of the new development to affordable housing, which is at odds with the city’s vision of replacing a former crime magnet with a model mixed-income development in the heart of the city.

Groth said the city is considering allowing HUD to market the property while working with the federal agency on bid specifications that would determine the site’s future.

“We don’t want to put back the same thing that was there,” Groth said. “We’d like to see a mixed-income level and some different kinds of housing opportunities.”

The city has asked for a 30-day extension in the process so it can gather more information and seek public input on the future of the property.

“We have to make the case for what we want to do,” Groth said. “We can’t just say, ‘Here’s what we want.’ We have to say, ‘We had x number of units that were affordable, but a lot of those units have been replaced in other places.’ ”

HUD this summer gave Section 8 housing vouchers to remaining residents of Parkside Village after it ended its subsidy contract with the bankrupt owners, American Housing Foundation. The complex was plagued with poor inspection scores, and the owners said it was a perennial money-loser. HUD does not own the property but has the right to foreclose on it and sell it because the complex is in default on a federal loan.

A study HUD commissioned this winter found that it would take $5 million to rehabilitate the existing 200 units. City officials said that would be a bad idea, because the units are outdated and grouped in a way that makes them difficult to secure.

Finding a solution

Mike Backman, HUD’s regional hub director, said the agency is open to negotiation with the city.

“Our preference is always for affordable housing, but there is room for discussion to balance what’s in the best interest of the community,” he said. “(City leaders) know their community better than we do.”

Officials with Waco Community Development Corp. have urged supporters and North Waco residents to write letters opposing the creation of a new low-income housing complex at the Parkside site. The nonprofit group builds mixed-income housing in North Waco.

Executive director Mike Stone noted that the Parkside site sits next to the 250-unit Villages Section 8 complex. He said it was a mistake to concentrate so much low-income housing in one neighborhood, and everyone is better off when such housing is scattered around town.

“People in this neighborhood don’t want a repeat of what we’ve had the last 40 years,” he said. “We already have a high concentration of poverty in that area. The neighborhood needs to have more mixed-income housing.” He said he would like to see a development of cottages, condos, town houses and single-family homes, with perhaps 20 percent set aside for lower-income families.

He said his agency would be interested in partnering with others to redevelop the site. But he said no developers are likely to want to spend money to acquire the property and demolish the buildings.

Groth said he hoped the land could be offered as an incentive for development and demolition could be part of the redevelopment package.

Backman of HUD said the agency isn’t allowed to give land away, but it would lay out detailed restrictions on how the land could be used, then offer it to the highest bidder, with no minimum bid.

In the meantime, the city of Waco is moving to add fencing to the property’s perimeter to keep trespassers out.

The site already has partial fencing, and American Housing Foundation attached plywood to the windows.

But vandals have knocked open several doors and windows. Groth said the city work probably would cost about $1,000.

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

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