Housing Authority Expects 300 New Units to Come Online in 2023 as Part of Ten-Year Plan to Increase Stock

V.I. Housing Authority Executive Director Robert Graham said during a board meeting Tuesday that beginning in 2023, some 300 additional housing units are expected to come online as part of a ten-year plan.

Speaking about the Housing Authority’s portfolio redevelopment strategy, the executive director said 2022 was the first year of a 10-year strategy, and he revealed that units would begin coming online in fiscal year 2023.

“We have three development partners working on two projects apiece,” he elaborated. “Over the intermediate term beginning next year we expect to see on average of 300 units brought online, new or rehabbed, beginning in fiscal year 2023.”

Mr. Graham said the authority is in a better position today than it was five years ago due to federal resources received in recent years. Notwithstanding, there was still a lot of work to be done, he assured.

Regarding the authority's effort to make housing available to individuals in varying income brackets, and not just low-income applicants, Mr. Graham said this would not be achievable without more job opportunities and an increase in income.

Speaking of the authority's "de-concentration plan," which seeks to diversify affordable housing applicants, Mr. Graham said, “The goal is really admirable to want to have balanced housing annual income for residents that is across the spectrum and not just extremely low or low. We suggest in the annual plan that it's not practical to achieve that goal when in the public housing developments there are a significant number of low and extremely low income households.”

Mr. Graham said this was reflected in the waiting list, and added, “if the waiting list has the same proportions or composition that we have in public housing — that 80 percent of the individuals are low and extremely low income — it is very difficult to achieve de-concentration.”