Washington, DC) – Sixth District Congressman and House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today applauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s announcement that the Columbia and Charleston housing authorities will be receiving a total of $13 million in funding through a competitive process to create energy efficient communities through substantial rehabilitation or new construction of public housing developments.
“This is a tremendous investment in our public housing communities,” Congressman Clyburn said. “With this Recovery Act funding, we are creating new jobs and setting an example for neighborhoods to follow in improving their energy efficiency.”
The Columbia Housing Authority will receive $10 million to construct 60 affordable rental units and 36 homeownership units at The River’s Edge. All units will be built with features such as thermopane windows, energy star appliances and plumbing fixtures that will conserve water.
The River’s Edge was purchased and cleared in 2001; it is located within the City of Columbia along the Broad River.
Gilbert Walker, Executive Director of the Columbia Housing Authority, said, “We are very excited about beginning this new project. We have had great success with building green units and are looking forward to seeing this community become reality.”
The Housing Authority of the City of Charleston will receive $3,280,038 for renovations and new construction on Reid Street. The project will retrofit four existing units with new energy star technology that will serve as a model for renovations on other units on the property. In addition, a vacant site that has been part of the property for 25 years will be used to build eight new energy efficient units.
“We are ecstatic about these funds. This is a wonderful opportunity to put people to work and reduce our inventory of those needing public housing,” said Don Cameron, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston.
These grants are part of the $1 billion allocated for the Public Housing Capital Fund in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This is in addition to the nearly $3 billion in Recovery Act funds distributed to more than 3,100 public housing authorities just eight days after the enactment of the ARRA.
This latest announcement includes $300 million for 36 “green” public housing transformation projects across the country. These funds are to be used for transformational activities that will substantially increase energy efficiency and environmental performance of public housing properties. The funding will reduce energy costs, generate resident and housing authority energy savings, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions attributable to energy consumption.
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