City seeks private funds to help public housing
At a high-rise public housing project in Cambridge last winter, getting the mail became a risky journey. After an elderly man was trapped in an elevator, some residents refused to take the chance.
Such disrepair is a consequence of underfunding, said Gregory P. Russ, executive subdirector of the Cambridge Housing Authority. Neither the state nor the federal government coughs up enough money to cover capital projects, he said, resulting in a multimillion-dollar gap between subsidies received and what's needed.
Russ has decided to cast a net into the private sector, as he said so many other communities in the nation have been forced to do.
"We're going to be looking for tax-credit investors," Russ said. "Banks, pension funds, and the like work through a middleman, a syndicator, to find viable investments and get a credit against the taxes they owe on their income. But they have to feel it's a safe investment."
To do this, the Housing Authority has to jump through a number of hoops, some of them expensive. It has to be organized as a non profit to qualify for tax-credit investing, according to Internal Revenue Service rules. And to create the nonprofit and a long-term plan for investors to examine, the Cambridge authority will have to pay architects and lawyers. He hopes to have the plan outlined by early fall.
The Cambridge Housing Authority manages 2,700 apartments on an annual budget of $65 million, with revenues from rent, grants, and subsidies from the state and federal governments. Because revenues do not cover operating expenses, Russ said, money intended for capital projects has to be diverted.
"When you have underfunded capital, you risk tipping an asset from one that's viable and livable to one that's not habitable," Russ said. "At some point, it becomes too expensive to fix."
Case in point is the Jefferson Park apartments in North Cambridge. At first glance, the complex looks like a campus -- three-story buildings with courtyards, benches, and plush grass. Yet the buildings' bricks are pitted by water damage, metal window lintels are rusted out, and there are no intercom or doorbell systems.
Inside, leaks abound. Mold dots the walls. Bathroom sinks look older than their 50 years, as does the linoleum. Heaters replaced 10 years ago are already rusted out. The problem is bigger than just the unit; it's a matter of inadequate construction.
Earlier this year, 13 units were vacant because they were uninhabitable. "They didn't pass the basic test of 'Would you let your mother live there?' " said Russ.
Other high-rise projects, particularly the Burns and LBJ properties, have been plagued by elevator maintenance problems. Each property has two elevators that serve 128 and 175 tenants, respectively.
"They're aging," Russ said. "There are breakdowns once every three months or so, and then you have only one elevator to serve all those folks."
The Housing Authority changed elevator contractors after the elderly man was trapped, and Russ said service has greatly improved. The same contractors will also rebuild the elevators at both properties, beginning next month, for a total of $800,000.
