Two bite-sized
expansions of public housing in southwest Jacksonville have pushed
the Jacksonville Housing Authority to the halfway mark in complying
with a desegregation consent decree.
The housing authority must strike at least one more deal to
achieve the federal requirement of adding 225 new public housing
units in predominantly white neighborhoods by 2006.
The housing authority and City Hall agreed to the terms in 2000
after the U.S. Department of Justice threatened a lawsuit on grounds
that public housing was concentrated in mainly minority parts of
Jacksonville, violating fair housing laws.
Mandarin Lake Apartments on Loretto Road is still under
consideration for public housing, but there are no negotiations
under way. The housing authority board voted last December to pursue
acquisition of the property, triggering protests from residents of
the surrounding neighborhood.
Last month, Beal Bank bought the apartments at a foreclosure
sale, and it's not clear whether the bank would be interested in
selling to the housing authority. Beal Bank officials did not return
phone calls.
The housing authority was unaware of the Oct. 23 auction and did
not make a bid for the property, said authority spokesman Al
Bertani. However, he said the authority is interested in buying the
complex from Beal Bank, which obtained the apartments after
foreclosing on the former owner.
"It's still a possibility," Bertani said. "They [the bank] know
that we're interested, but they haven't approached us at all."
To date, the housing authority and the Justice Department have
agreed on three locations for complying with the consent decree:
The privately built Lindsey Terrace Apartments off Argyle Forest
Boulevard contain 84 units for public housing residents in the
336-unit complex. Using Lindsey Terrace has been a done deal since
2001.
The housing authority will use up to 24 units at the 162-unit
Gregory West Apartments on Gregory West Drive for public housing
residents. The authority has owned Gregory West Apartments since
2001 and has been running it without any rental assistance for
tenants.
The Riviera Apartments in the 1700 block of Blanding Boulevard,
which the authority bought earlier this year, will provide up to 21
units for public housing residents at the 139-unit complex.
The agreements in regard to Gregory West and Riviera Apartments
are the latest developments in relation to the consent decree. The
housing authority board OK'd those provisions in September.
On Oct. 23, the Justice Department joined the housing authority
and City Hall in a joint motion seeking more flexibility in the
purchase of smaller complexes.
At issue is a provision stating that if the authority buys an
existing complex for the consent decree, no more than 25 percent of
the complex's units can be for public housing residents. Earlier
this year, U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams waived that
requirement for Mandarin Lake Apartments, which the housing
authority wanted to use entirely for public housing residents.
If Adams approves the pending motion, the housing authority would
be able to use 100 percent of the units in any complex with 110 or
fewer units. The Justice Department said the housing authority has
made a "good faith effort" to comply with the decree, but it's
difficult to get financing for the purchase of smaller units if just
a portion of them can be used for public housing.
Staff writer David Bauerlein can be reached at (904)
359-4581 or via e-mail at dbauerlein
jacksonville.com.
