Lawmakers Urge VIHA to Prioritize Residents Amid $200 Million Housing Redevelopment Effort

As VIHA plans to build 300 units annually and revitalize senior housing communities, legislators express concerns over impact on current residents, with Senator Capehart highlighting safety concerns for seniors living with behavioral challenges

There were repeated appeals for the leadership of the Virgin Islands Housing Authority to exercise due consideration to current residents of housing communities when VIHA testified before the Committee on Housing, Transportation, and Telecommunications on Monday.‌

Their comments followed an extensive update from VIHA’s executive director, Dwayne Alexander. He informed legislators that in a bid to increase the territory’s affordable housing stock, the authority plans to “revitalize or construct around 300 units annually.” That work began in earnest in 2024, seven years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged housing communities, necessitating approximately “$240 million in additional costs.” Before the 2017 hurricanes, VIHA was “already confronting over $200 million in deferred capital improvements across its housing stock,” testified Mr. Alexander.

‌“We have about $200 million [in FEMA funds] left, and we are using portions of that money for development as well as restoring existing deficiencies that we have in our properties,” Mr. Alexander told Senator Dwayne DeGraff.