March 7, 2022

HUD: Rental Assistance Demonstration Conversion Transaction Closed with the Housing Authority of Kansas City, MO to Create Mixed-Income Community

Transaction is final part of seven-phase Paseo Gateway redevelopment process

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Multifamily Housing on February 25closed a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) transaction with the Housing Authority of Kansas City, Missouri (HAKC) and Brinshore Development, to create 62 mixed-income homes at the new Sam Rodgers Place.

Sam Rodgers Place will be a newly constructed development in two three-story buildings with townhome/rowhouse structures atop ground-level flats, and one four-story apartment building. Of the 42 affordable homes, 27 will be replacement units for Chouteau Court public housing residents, and 15 will be tax-credit affordable housing. An additional 20 homes will be market rate housing.

Each apartment will include in-unit laundry, dishwasher, refrigerator, range/oven, range hood, and microwave. Phone and cable/TV connectivity and hardwired broadband capabilities will be provided in every home. The buildings will be Energy Star-certified and have Energy Star-rated appliances and water conservation fixtures. There will be 4,000 square feet of community amenities, including a fitness room, a community room with kitchen, lobby, and on-site management office. The site will include green space, outdoor gathering area, and tot lot. Additionally, a full-time service coordinator from the Health Center will be located on-site to provide a host of service-enriched housing opportunities.

This transaction is the final of a seven-phase preservation and redevelopment plan for the original Chouteau Courts public housing site of 134 homes, which has been supported by several HUD funding sources, including a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. Two of those seven phases have involved RAD, with a previous RAD transaction having closed in December 2021 consisting of 24 homes converted to Section 8 under RAD, 22 other affordable homes, and 20 market-rate homes.

The combination of Choice Neighborhoods and RAD allowed HAKC to generate $109 million in local investment through 30 local partners across all seven phases of their Choice plan.

The RAD transaction includes a $15.8 million construction budget ($255,000 per unit) fully financed through:

About RAD
RAD was designed to help address the multi-billion-dollar nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance in the public housing portfolio and to stem the loss of affordable housing that could no longer be kept to decent standards. From the program’s inception through February 1, 2022, the Rental Assistance Demonstration has facilitated more than $14 billion in capital investment to improve or replace nearly 175,000 deeply rent-assisted homes, most of which house extremely low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities.

Under RAD, projects funded under the public housing program convert their public housing assistance to project-based Section 8 rental assistance. Under Section 8, residents continue to pay 30% of their income towards rent and the housing must continue to serve those with very low and extremely low incomes, as was the case when the property was assisted through the public housing program. Residents must be notified and consulted prior to conversion, are given a right to return to assisted housing post-construction so that the same tenants can enjoy these newly preserved and improved apartments and maintain the same fundamental rights they had as public housing residents.

RAD Resources

More programmatic information is available at the RAD website. Data on RAD is available at the RAD Resource Desk.

View photo essays and read case studies where RAD is working to successfully preserve and improve public housing for low-income families.

Watch an educational video for public housing residents or those new to the RAD program.

This post was originally published here.