Donoe Housing Redevelopment Stalled, Over Budget

Seven years after hurricanes destroyed the already-rickety Tutu High Rise and Donoe Apartments, promises to quickly and efficiently rebuild the public housing remain years behind schedule and startlingly over budget, according to testimony at the Senate Monday.

In January 2021, the Virgin Islands Housing Authority, contractors, and management companies estimated building 84 apartments in 14 buildings on 10.6 acres would cost $57.7 million and be completed by December 2022. With work less than 40 percent complete, construction was stalled and at least a year behind schedule in September 2022 and remained so. Fears about soil contamination from the nearby solar farm also obliterated by the storms were addressed years ago.

Dwayne Alexander, executive director of the Virgin Islands Housing Authority for just seven months, told the Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications that the long-stagnant project required an additional $46 million. He didn’t say why work had stopped and not restarted. “We are currently in the process of completing the environmental remediation work, which is anticipated to be finalized by mid-November,” Alexander said.