Kingsport's housing authority still working on Lee Apartments replacement plans

KINGSPORT — The replacement for the demolished Lee Apartments, to be called The Grove at Poplardale or the Grove for short, is still in the works.The replacement for Lee, demolished in 2018, hasn't quite reached fruition for Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority. However, the KHRA has other projects in progress or done as it prepares to apply for a low-income housing tax credit, possibly in June, for the Grove.KHRA is the local housing authority serving the greater Kingsport area.Another project pending is the 12-unit senior housing development to be called Oakmont between the intersection of Oak and Center streets and Myrtle and Center streets.The city recently rezoned it to allow 12 units instead of just 10."We truly feel like we're gaining traction on meeting our area's growing needs," KHRA Executive Director Terry Cunningham said.LOWDOWN ON THE GROVE"I think that everybody is very interested in the Lee site," said Casey Begley, project manager for KHRA. "We have not secured the tax credit funding."The THDA, or Tennessee Housing and Development Authority, holds the purse strings on that tax credit, and KHR Grants and Redevelopment Manager Emily Chase said the plans are not just for a housing development but a development with more services than just housing 128 units."We're looking at difference sources of funding and different models of housing," Chase said after a Nashville THDA conference the week of March 6 at which she and other KHRA officials talked with sister agencies across the state about innovative housing models with "more services in the development rather than just housing."The final concept, still development, is a "long-term housing stabilization model" rather than just a place to live.OTHER PROJECTSKHRA has completed or is at work on projects ranging from serving the homeless to bringing WiFi to residents of its public housing, as well as housing projects to serve the mentally ill and those who've completed opioid addition treatment.However, the Big Elm project to be above the Hillside Point, the former Holly Hills, is basically on hold, Casey and Chase said, because its status as a qualified Census tract has changed. They said the wooded area is still a possibility for future development but is less of a priority now than it was in 2022.The Grove would follow five other such projects already completed that cost $46 million.KHRA officials have said tax credit applications are more difficult to get approved because the available credits have shrunk in the post-COVID pandemic conditions, which include higher materials costs and higher bids and costs overall for such projects.That means money for what would have been future projects has been shifted back to already-awarded projects, which face higher costs than anticipated.The Grove is to be a mixture of townhouse, quad units and single family units, like the Riverview redevelopment.All told, KHRA has more than 500 housing units, not counting at least 128 to be added by the Grove. Aside from income-based single family housing units, those 500 units include market- rate properties, housing for the elderly and group homes.Units in five projects account for 381 KHRA units: Reedy Point, the former Cloud Apartments; Magnolia Point, the former Dogwood Terrace; Hillside Pointe, the former Holly Hills; Kendrick Point, the former Tiffany Court; and Charlemont Place, formerly a private apartment rental complex.AMONG OTHER ACTIVITIES:• KHRA has completed construction on a residential complex at 1040 Robertson St. for those who have gone through an opioid treatment program, Begley and Chase said. The six-unit, single-building Slate House is seeking referrals for its first residents.• The West Gate complex, for which KRHA got TIF or tax-increment financing on the old West Stone Drive Walmart site near the interchange of U.S. Highway 11W and Interstate 81, is nearly complete by a private development. A glitch in the discovery of an old storm drain has been addressed, with constructed units almost sold out and some townhouses under construction.• KHRA has distributed free Chromebooks or other digital devices to every household in its system of about 500 houses and free WiFi access to most. The Digital Navigator program, in partnership with the Clinch Powell Development out of Johnson City and Bulls Gap, is working to distribute more than 100 devices that are distributed to all new residents or families if they want one.KHRA also is working to provide instructions, via the Kingsport Public Library, on how to use the devices for both children and adults.• As for the WiFi coverage, it has been expanded to be accessible in about 90 percent of residential units. It is a grant-funded project. For those with signal unavailable in their units, access will be available elsewhere on KHRA property.• A residence at 1054 Robertson St. has been renovated by KHRA for mental illness housing, eligible to be used by a family with at least one mentally ill member. Referrals are being sought. A $60,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health funded the project.• Cunningham said the continuing housing boom in Kingsport, which has a limited supply for homes on the market and at least 2,000 or so in the pipelines compared to 2,500 this time in 2022, is attributable to a backlog of demand for housing from existing residents as well as the attractiveness of the area to residents from other areas of the country.He said the region's education, healthcare, internet accessibility and overall quality of living have helped make it known as a good place to live. The pandemic also has expanded the number of jobs done virtually, meaning folks can live anywhere and work from home.• Through the Street Outreach program, KHRA has hired two coordinators to assist area homeless people in getting housing and benefits. The ongoing program is funded through a Tennessee grant that disperses federal money as a flow-through the Emergency Solutions program.Cunningham said it is part of various efforts across the community, efforts he said he hopes continue to work together for the good of the homeless community.He said such groups as the Salvation Army, Shades of Grace United Methodist Church and the Kingsport Homeless Ministry are working with Kingsport Police Department homeless social worker Erin Gray, Jonathan Andrews of United Way of Greater Kingsport and others to benefit and serve the homeless.KHRA is not directly associated with Hunger First but bought the property where it had been located to be used for senior housing.Michael Gillis has since relocated the Hunger First operation to the Lynn Garden community of Kingsport.CUNNINGHAM GIVES THE BIG PICTURE"We've experienced some new success in the way of developing housing for previously underserved populations ranging from recovery housing to elderly housing for aging in place," Executive Director Cunningham said."We are shifting some of our efforts to bolster our supportive services programs as we hope to gain additional grant funding in that category for 2023," he said. "KHRA continues to seek funding to best serve our clients, and we stand committed to our promise to transform and empower our community."