DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180273

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   89 lines

HOUSING AGENCY FALLS SHORT OF ACHIEVING GOALS, REPORT FINDS MORE MONEY AND A MANAGEMENT CHANGE ARE NEEDED, ADVISERS SAY.

Nearly two years ago, in an attempt to improve the city's nine public housing neighborhoods, a mayoral task force recommended changes to make the communities more diverse in its mix of residents and more closely resemble the private housing market.

A report released Monday reveals that the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, while making gains since then, needs substantially more money and a shift in management style to achieve the task force's goals.

``What this effort did, I think, was to plant our feet back on the ground,'' said Ray Strutton, assistant executive director of housing operations for the authority. ``It really gave us a reality check of what we can and can't do.''

The report by Bethesda, Md.-based consultant Abt Associates took five months to produce. It is expected to serve as a guide over the next 10 to 20 years, helping the housing authority navigate through a new era of welfare reform and shrinking federal dollars.

It was released without comment Monday to the housing authority's Board of Commissioners.

The report looks at three areas of the city's public housing operations: management, physical needs and marketability. The commissioners plan to discuss the report next month, and the housing authority expects to begin holding meetings within the housing communities soon after to share the findings.

While generally complimentary of the housing authority's performance against tough challenges, the report also pointed out weaknesses, including a heavily centralized form of management that is costly and often difficult to coordinate.

The report, for example, detailed an instance where a broken window and frame were needlessly replaced twice by two different crews over as many days.

To compete with the private market and attract more socially and economically diverse renters, the report said, the city would have to spend millions of dollars to upgrade its public housing stock, which was built in the 1940s and 1950s and lacks such amenities as carpeting and air conditioning.

Currently, the average annual income of public housing tenants is $6,500. The region's median income is about $43,000. The report estimates that an investment of between $40 million to $60 million in improvements would be needed to draw families with annual incomes of about $22,000.

About 11,000 people live in the city's public housing neighborhoods. Currently, average monthly rent is $135.

When compared with private rental housing serving moderate-income families in the local market, the report concludes, the city's public housing neighborhoods ``are lacking in curb appeal, operating costs are higher and management is less stringent with respect to lease enforcement. These less stringent standards for resident behavior have implications for crime, physical upkeep, operating expenses and, ultimately, the ability to attract working families.''

Housing authority officials say they've taken steps in recent months to hold residents more accountable, including a new social lease approved last year and the compilation of community standards that deal with such issues as yard upkeep and social behavior.

Five public housing properties were identified as most in need of modernization: Young Terrace, Tidewater Gardens, Roberts Village, Bowling Green and Grandy Village. It would cost $29.4 million to repair deficiencies and return them to their original, ``as-built'' condition.

The report estimates that, over the next five years, the housing authority will receive only $21.6 million in federal funding that could be used for such purposes.

A market analysis by Abt Associates of alternative uses of the land showed that its continued use for public housing made the most economic sense. The report indicated that the cash return to the authority probably would not justify demolishing and redeveloping any of the existing housing communities for other uses.

The report stated that private rental housing likely would be marketable on the site of Tidewater Gardens and Young Terrace, and that single-family homes probably would sell on both the Grandy and Bowling Green public housing sites.

With downtown undergoing redevelopment and growth, the report also said there might be interest among private developers in the Tidewater Gardens and Young Terrace sites for use as office, retail or hotel space.

But Strutton said the housing authority has no plans to redevelop any of the public housing sites. And the report issued by the Mayor's Task Force on Public Housing, which has been endorsed by the City Council, stated without question: ``There is a future for public housing in Norfolk. Any rumor of impending demolition needs to be refuted in the strongest terms.''

Said Strutton: ``When people are talking about us tearing down public housing, the market study tells us that, financially, that just doesn't make much sense. The city may want to do that for another reason, but the economics tells us that's not the way to go.'' KEYWORDS: NORFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY STUDY

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