V.I. Housing Authority Executive Director Dwayne Alexander presented a report to the Public Finance Authority on redevelopment projects costing $2.4 billion, which include the rehabilitation or construction of 2,300 units. Some of the projects are not destined to be completed in this decade.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. told Alexander that the plan was “woefully lacking” and that a “short-term solution” had to be found for the present housing situation.
He said rent on St. Thomas had become “untenable,” and residents don’t know where to go for housing. He said the situation was going to get worse as more construction projects brought in more workers. Ultimately, he said the territory would lose population.
VIHA Board Member Dorothy Isaacs questioned whether something could be done to rehabilitate houses in areas such as Bunker Hill, where many homes were now uninhabitable.
Bryan stated that the Senate has not taken action on the housing situation. Instead, it has “wasted time on mundane issues.”
A couple of projects mentioned by Alexander have moved along. Construction began in March on the David Hamilton Jackson Terrace rehabilitation project (106 units), and the Walter I. M. Hodge Pavilion rehabilitation project (248 units, including a senior center) has been completed.
Alexander said that the Estate Donoe redevelopment, with 84 units, would be completed in 2027.
The Alphonso Gerald rehabilitation (18 units) and Tutu North Senior housing (60 units) are in the early stages of project development.
Bryan said he was concerned not only about the fact that some projects were 12 years out, but most of them were just rehabilitation projects. He said, “The net gain in housing is zero.”
A resolution before the board on behalf of the Office of Disaster Recovery, to pay Springline Architects $25 million more than agreed upon in the original contract, which covers works on several public buildings, was discussed at length. Board members Keith O’Neal and Isaacs questioned how the cost could have ballooned so much.
Adrienne Williams-Octalien, Office of Disaster Recovery director, defended the request, which also included an eighteen-month extension of the contract. She said the scope of the agreement had expanded.
The authority also passed a measure to allow an increase of $8 million in a contract with DLR Group for architectural and engineering services related to the Julius Sprauve school project.
The members also unanimously approved the PFA’s proposed budget of $26 million.
