10 C i r e 3 3 19 9 5 A Depleted C u r t i s L a n g Legacy Public Housing in his past year, Allen Parkwa y Village Despite substantial opposition , Congress Thas been in the news once again, for empowered the U.S. H o u s i n g Authority what may prove to be the last rime. ( h e r (L1SHA) in 1937 to fund local housing the past dozen years, the 50-year-old Houston authorities, w h i c h w o u l d demolish slum public housing c o m p l e x , Houston's neighborhoods and erect new housing largest, lias become a familiar fixture in complexes to replace t h e m . ' The next local newspapers. 1'hrough ,t series ot er c o u l d never provide housing for all private homebuilders and savings and year the city of H o u s t o n and the stare of efforts at d e m o l i t i o n and redevelopment Americans. They argued thar public loan associations, w h o launched vigorous Texas established H o u s t o n 's housing occurring under four mayors. Allen housing alone c o u l d deliver decent habi- attacks on public housing, accusing it of authority, governed by a five-member Parkway Village has generated seemingly tation for the poor. " E v e n at its incep- being socialistic and representing unfair hoard of commissioners appointed by the unending lawsuits, public meetings, c o n- tion, public housing was a controversial government competitio n w i t h free enter- mayor for two-year terms. gressional hearings, even its o w n H U D idea, and I'resideni f r a n k l i n Roosevelt prise. . . . They played major roles in amendment. It has attracted a large, himself had to be c o a x e d , " reports Tufts organizing local communities to oppose Unfortunately, rhe H o u s i n g A u t h o r i t y of diverse coalition of project residents, University professor Rachel G. llrarr. the siting of public h o u s i n g . " - rhe City of H o u s t o n ( H A C H I was created community activists from both the left " I here was strong opposition f r o m . . . with a political structure that does not and the right, academics, writers , d o c u - provide for oversight and accountability mentary f i l m makers, historians, preser- as safeguards against malfeasance. vationists, and religious and civic leaders. 1IACH was created by both state and Allen Parkway Village has become such .1 local statutes as a public a u t h o r i t y , cause ecli'bre — even if the cause is lost bunded p r i m a r i ly by rhe U.S. H o u s i n g — because it embodies virtually all the Authority (later the Department of problems at tile H o u s i n g A u t h o r i t y of the Housing and Urban Development) and City of H o u s t o n ( H A C H ) since the agen- only supplemented hy grants f r o m the cy's first major scandal in 195.?. city of H o u s t o n , H A C H is in budget and operation theoretically independent of
HACH's mission is to provide l o w - the city. A l t h o u g h the mayor is ultimately income housing for the poorest of accountable lor w h a t H U \ I does, the Houston's poor. A discrepancy exists organizational charts of city government between this legislated ration d'etre and make it possible for h i m to claim to have what H A C H actually achieves. !'or the only limited influence over w h a t happens at H A C H and only limited responsibility past 25 years and m o r e , H A C H has often for a state-chartered public authority been more successful in feeding tax d o l - funded and audited by a Washington lars to developers and builders than in cabinet agency. This insulates the m a y o r doing its mandated j o b . from political heat resulting f r o m any HACH's Historical Roots HACH mismanagement. Because H A C H is a bureaucracy that answers to three different sources of power, it is a d i f f i c u l t More than am other industrialized target for reformers at any level. Where Western n a t i o n, the United States has authority is diffused, so are responsibility traditionally looked to rhe marketplace 10 and accountability. provide housing for its population . Houston's reliance on free-enterprise solutions to social problems makes the During the period f r o m 1940 to 1944, Bayou City a model tor those s t u d y i n g HACH built 2,215 racially segregated the evolution of the A m e r i c a n social c o n - public housing units. For black residents tract vis-a-vis housing. HACH opened Cuney Homes in T h i r d Ward (across f r o m the future site of T S U I Two watershed events in the first half of in 1940 and Kelly C o u r t s in Fifth W a r d the 20th century established a substantial in 1 9 4 1 ; for white residents it built role for an activist government in the Irvinton C o u r t s , also in Fifth W a r d , 4 marketplace, hut the current negotiations in 1942. between Republicans and Democrats to transform federal housing policy suggest The c r o w n jewel ot I lACFI's empire was that the government's active role may s.111 I elipe ( m n i s . ] lesigned by a g r o u p well be abolished. o f H o u s t o n architectural firms led by MacKie ck K a m r a t h and completed in Early in the century, the appearance of 1944, San Felipe Courts was designed to tenement reform laws forged a role for enhance the beauty and commercial u t i l i - local governments to set standards and ty ot • me ot I l i u i s t m i \ most importan t regulate housing safety.' D u r i n g the civic corridors, Allen Parkway, a scenic |9?l)s. N e w Deal reformers were c o n - boulevard w i n d i n g alongside buffalo vinced that the unregulated operation ol Allen Parkway Village, 1995. Its 1,000 apartments make up more than 24 percent of all public housing units in Bayou that connects d o w n t o w n H o u s t o n the free market and philanthropy togeth- Houston. Only 21 apartments are currently occupied. with the city's planned suburb for the 11
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well-off. River Oaks. In I9HH, the project ber of units for whites, even though it was listed in the N a t i o n a l Register of often meant the units lay empty. H A C l 1 Historic Places as a historic district of eventually dropped that policy in the late national significance.-5 sixties and early seventies, and Allen / Parkway Village became predominantly Houston's housing a u t h o r i t y built the African American, T h e n — and only then 1,000-umt San Felipe Courts (renamed — was it suggested that maintainin g a Allen Parkway Village in 1964) as l o w - lenwood Johnson, president ol the Resident Council of Allen Parkway Village, on the complex's tree-lined central housing project on that site was not a income public housing w i t h money f r o m street. good idea. As H A C F I director Robert the I mteJ States 1 lousing A u t h o r i t y . But Moore explained in a N o v e m b e r 1977 in A p r i l 194 I, Congress created the letter to H U D proposing d e m o l i t i o n of I )-\ is;,HI ,il I (etensc I lousing to provide the project, " | A l l e n Parkway Village's low-income housing near crucial defense land values have| escalated beyond a cost plants, and w h e n construction on San where housing is the highest and best Felipe Courts began in 1942, the complex use."1 ! H A C H began to make plans for was designated as temporary defense rhe sale of the project. housing. It was lived in by families of - defense w o r k e r s until I ' M , In order to Selling the land along Allen Parkway build the 37-acre c o m p l e x, a section of B B m would provide a cash w i n d f a l l for H A C H Fourth W a r d , Houston's oldest African while encouraging major private-sector American neighborhood , had to be razed, development — always one of City H a l l 's triggering vociferous protests f r o m rhe primary goals. A secret September 1977 displaced residents. That San Felipe housing authority report sent f r o m Courts was designated f r o m its inception Mayor I red I l o f h c i n / s office to H U D , as a whites-only project only tanned tantalizing!)' entitled "Project S," dis- the flames. h cussed a possible $5.5 m i l l i o n relocation o f Allen Parkway Village residents and Alter W o r l d W a r I I , an increasing n u m - sale of the project to private interests. ber of w h i t e Houstonians came to share •a'mill i The money thus gained, H o u s t o n officials i I n i n t h Ward's antipathy to the housing argued, w o u l d fund a subsequent $27.8 Alter the East End's Clayton Homes was built in 1952 (Wyalt C Hedrick, architect), a 23-year dry spell followed authority. In 1951), when M a y o r Oscar million b u i l d i n g p r o g r a m to create new in which no new public housing projects were buill or purchased by the Housing Authority of the City of Houston. Holcombe asked the voters of H o u s t o n public housing and a $40.5 m i l l i o n to approve the construction of .5,000 program to rehabilitate existing more units of public housing, a bitter housing stock — all at no cost to the 4 battle ensued, w i t h o p p o s i t i on c o m i n g extorting bribes in connection w i t h claiming that to do so w o u l d cause an federaI government. ' from the lu>inebuilders' and savings awarding construction contracts for exodus of w h i t e families into substandard and loan lobbies, as well as groups Clayton Homes. Blum's trial revealed market h o u s i n g . 1 " but Patricia Roberts H a r r i s , H U D secre- that opposed public housing for ideologi- that the F I A C H board of commissioners tary under President J i m m y Carter, cal reasons. The C o u n c i l for Free had been derelict in exercising oversight, HACH in t h e S e v e n t i e s opposed the plan as parr of a policy I nterprise, which organized against rh< and that federally funded programs to against disposing of low-incom e property referendum, warned voters that public benefit l o w - i n c o m e residents at San When L y n d o n It. Johnson signed rhe if the property could be salvaged. housing was opening the doors to Felipe CburtS were suppressed so that the Housing and Urban Development Act of Countering the H A C H proposal, H U D "socialistic or communistic forms of I I At I I s u n t i m i d use the funds and 196S, the nation c o m m i t t e d itself to p r o - authorized $ 1 0 m i l l i o n in 1979 for the government."' H o u s t o n voters defeated property for personal purposes. Khun was viding 26 m i l l i o n new or substantially modernization of Allen Parkway Village, Holcombe's proposal. lint both the Project S proposal and the convicted and sent to federal prison,and rehabilitated housing units over rhe next modernization plan went nowhere. 1 ^ four of the five members of rhe board of decade," and H A C H resumed activity I he Miters' rejection of the funding pro- commissioners resigned. s after its long nap w i t h the 197.5 opening posal effectively put the brakes on of the Sharpstown-area hellerive project During this p e r i o d , H A C H developed an HACH. The fifth public housing c o m - b\ early 1956 a t h i r d of San Felipe tor the elderly w i t h H U D s u p p o r t . ' - odd new strategy for raising money. In 1 plex, Clayton H o m e s , located in the Fast Court's 1,000 units were vacant. Kligible Johnson's Cavil Rights A c t of 1964 I )"*' it created affiliated subsidiary com- End near the foot of N a v i g a t i o n white families opted not to live there ensured that Hellerive w o u l d be a racially panies, the H o u s t o n Apartment H o u s i n g Boulevard, was in the planning stages because of rhe complex's isolation f r o m integrated project. D u r i n g the next seven ( Corporation and H o u r e x , whose mission prior to H o l c o m b e 's referendum. It was schools, churches, and shopping. 1 ' There years, all the rest ot Houston's I 1 low- \s.is m raise money tor H A C H by pur- completed in 1952 only because philan- was no dearth of African American f a m i - income housing projects w o u l d be built. chasing troubled apartment complexes, thropist Susan Vaughan C l a y t o n donated lies w h o w o u l d have heen happy to live repairing t h e m , and renting units at mar- the property mi which it was built. No there; all-black Cuney Homes and Kelly Despite the C i v i l Rights A c t , H A C H still ket rates — essentially functioning as a new public housing w o u l d be built by Courts were fully occupied and had w a i t - engaged in racial policies — just less private, for-profit developer, bur financ- HACH for the next 2.* years. ing lists ot qualified applicants needing overtly. W h e n integration was m a n d a t e d, ing the venture w i t h tax-free n o t e s . I h The housing. In I95r> the N A A C P called on 11 At 11 opened up some apartments to housing corporation's first project was to HACH's problems were not just w i t h II.U fl to integrate San Felipe Courts. African Americans in Allen Parkway bus the i J ~ unit St. Regis iparrment public acceptance. In 1953, F.rvin W. The housing authority refused to rent any Village ( w h i c h by then accounted for complex at San Felipe and M i d l a n e for Blum, executive director of F I A C H for o f the 340 vacant apartments at San roughly a quarter of all H o u s t o n public $8 m i l l i o n , w i t h another 54 m i l l i o n spent the previous ten years, was convicted of Felipe Courts to African Americans, housing), but reserved a significant n u m - on renovations. 1 7 Far f r o m m a k i n g 12
Right: Forest Green Townhouses (ford & Heesch) were built in 1978 in far northeast Houston, east of 59 between Little York and Tidwell. In 1989-90, HACH demolished the original polio houses and built new houses (designed by Atlanta architects Bradfield, Richards & Associates) an their slabs. The 1990 houses are now falling apart. Although the townhause residents were promised aluminum siding, what they got was plastic. Any impact shatters the siding, which tears the I insulation ond allows water to seep into the units.
million available through HUD for preparation ol a complete set of construc- tion documents to modernize Allen Parkway Village. The only money actual- ly spent on the complex went for board- ing up vacant units. Despite an initial uproar about the H A C H scandal, neither City Hall nor Houston's news media launched major investigations to discover who had received the $1.3 million HACH disbursed via unrecorded checks.
In November 1981, Kathryn J. Whirmire defeated Jim McConn and immediately moved to clean house at H A C H . As in 1953, all members of the board of com- missioners resigned. Whitmire's new board was chaired first by H. J. Tollett, Jr., and then by Gerry Pate, a Houston engineer who was one of the new mayor's top fundraisers. HACTI tried to build three new scattered-site garden-apartment projects under Pate but in i ,u h i ase w as sty mied by m ighboi - hood groups.22
Mayor Whirmire hired Farl Phillips to be HACH's executive director, ostensibly because of his "insider" connections to Clayton Homes. HUD assistant secretary Jim Baugh. money ro subsidize l o w - i n c o m e housing, ducted in 19X2 estimated the value of Starman went public with the results ot ,i (Haugh was later indicted on federal con- the St. Regis cost the H A C H subsidiary Allen Parkway Village at more than $250 damaging I I U D audit, dated 10 July spiracy, bribery, and conflict-of-interest close to S2.S m i l l i o n nvi i .1 six ye.tr pen million, so McConn would have had a 1981, which showed that in 1979, 1980, charges.)-' Given a mandate to clean od. The complex was sold in 1 9 9 0 . I S friend for life in Kenneth Schnit/.er i) the and 1981, H A C H failed to record checks house at H A C H , Phillips started by firing deal had been completed.''' totaling $1.3 million and recorded anoth- HACH official George N. Kyle in May HACH in the Eighties er $1.5 million worth of checks twice. 198 1 for various swindles that included soliciting fake bids from contractors and collecting $2.4 million in excess rents. In 1981, with Ronald Reagan newly Neither City Hall nor Houston's news inaugurated and a free-market revolution Oddly, the dismissal did not trigger a sweeping America, the timing seemed media launched major investigations to discover broader investigation.-'' perfect for a second attempt by H A C H — working under Mayor Jim McGinn — who had received the $1.3 million HACH In September 1983, H A C H released a to sell Allen Parkway Village. H A C H disbursed via unrecorded checks. report on Allen Parkway Village and would receive cash for new entrepreneurial Fourth Ward that was endorsed by a projects, and the city would get credit for blue-ribbon commission of citizens sparking a massive development project Meanwhile, in Washington, assistant Furthermore, the general fund cash bal- including Gladys M. House, Jew Don that would extend downtown Houston housing secretary Philip Winn, later to ance was off by more than S800.IHin. Honey, George Greanias, James Ketelson, halfway up Allen Parkway toward River figure prominently in the HUD scandals This was not unusual for H A C H : the and Robert Mosbachcr, Jr. 1 lie report Oaks. In short, the mayor could join the of the 1980s, approved the secret H A C H audit disclosed that the agency had recommended demolition of Allen ranks of the private developers who request to demolish Allen Parkway failed to balance its bank statements Parkway Village and preparation of a have shaped large chunks of the city. Village. But Irving Statman, then head of since 1977.-1' comprehensive redevelopment program Accordingly, 1 [AC! I sent aiiorlier confi- the I >allas regional office of HUD, and that would reshape Fourth Ward, dential memo to H i l l ) requesting permis- his deputy, Elbert Winn (no relation to HUD's auditors concluded that H ACH although n did not address the concerns sion to demolish Allen Parkway Village. Philip), disturbed that \{[\[) investigators had no viable cash controls and no of historical preservationists. had uncovered monumental mismanage- accounting system adequate to support McConn admitted later that Kenneth ment at H A C H , pestered Mayor an audit. Further, they found that H ACH hut the tuning wax w n>ng. I he most Schnitzcr— who developed Allen Center, McConn for months to clean up the had no routine maintenance program for ambitious developer interested in the area Greenway Plaza, and the Summit — was agency. "I told them, 'You've got a terri- low-income projects, and thai HACFI at this point was Mayor Whitmire. Savvy the developer most interested in acquiring bly run, fiscally irresponsible staff here,'" had not done the required modernization commercial real estate developers already Allen Parkway Village from the city. Statman told reporters. "I made my plea and repairs at Allen Parkway Village, knew that the market in Houston for Schnitzcr confirmed that he had arranged to the [ H A C H | board. They turned a having improperly used designated mod- new, large-scale developments had disap- to purchase the land for $63 million. A deaf ear on me."- 0 ernization funds for other purposes. pe.ired in a glut of nev, • iffici space, confidential housing authority study con- HACH had spent $564,632 of the $10 apartments, and other construction that 13
was still under w a y as rhe b o t t o m tell out after 1 IA( \ I began systematic depopula- ot rhe international oil market and tion in 198.?. M o r e o v e r , H A C F f had Houston's economy. Kenneth Schnit/er received roughly S i 6 . 8 m i l l i o n in subsi- and other major developers publicly dies a n d other funds generated by the downplayed the value of Allen Parkway operation of units in Allen Parkway Village and or Fourth W a r d redevelop- Village up to 1991 (the figure is calculated ment in general, in response to the city's by multiplyin g the per-unit subsidy figures 2 1 plans. In I 98 S, W h i t m i r e ' s planning reported in court records by the number department director, F f r a i m Garcia, act- o f years f r o m 198.1 to I 9 9 11. This money ing as broker for a c o n s o r t i u m of Fourth was to have been spent on maintenance Ward property owners, offered the whole and repair. H A C H ' s o w n consultants neighborhood tor a publicly subsidized, noted in a 1991 report that F1ACH privately undertaken redevelopment records showed there had been no m a j o r package. Fourth W a r d .Kri\isr Ciladys repairs at Allen Parkway Village since House succeeded in having nearly halt 1981. If H A C H did not spend the money rhe neighborhood designated as a o n modernization , where d i d it go? W h o , National Rcgisti r I listorii District, com specifically, received it? Are there records! plicating Garcia's plans to use federal funds to relocate Fourth W a r d residents. The entire political landscape in H o u s t o n The crash in H o u s t o n 's real estate market changed when Bob l.amer defeated Kathy took care of the rest. There was no devel- HACH sank more than $2 million into this former Holiday Inn on Memorial Parkway, even though it never owned the Whitmire and took over at City I laII in oper interest in a massive city-sponsored, building. The public-private project was abandoned in 1989. November 1 9 9 1 . Neither candidate urban-renewal-style redevelopment of made Allen Parkway Village or H A C H Fourth W a r d . a m a j o r issue.
Yet the city's m a n i f o l d problems w i t h Bob Lanier was a supporter of rhe Allen Parkway Village and F o u r th W a r d Founders Park plan for Fourth W a r d - redevelopment had not quenched the Allen Parkway Village redevelopment, housing authority's thirst for real estate ..r6t*?^!Sfts'....jlHr ft which died because H A C H could not development. In late 19Sf>, H A C F ! board finesse rhe d e m o l i t i o n and "disposition " o f commissioners chairman Gerry Pate o f Allen Parkway Village. But Lanier did unveiled plans for a public-private part- not offer to enter i n t o a public-private nership to rehabilitate rhe f o r m e r partnership w i t h his fellow real estate Holiday Inn on M e m o r i a l D r i v e , across developers. Founders Park advocates Buffalo Bayou f r o m Allen Parkway assumed that the area's strategic impor - Village, to provide l o w - i n c o m e housing tance w o u l d be bolstered by M e t r o rail for the elderly. 2 '' Robert A. Mosbacher. proposals given great visibility in tin- l i t e Jr., w h o enjoyed remarkable connections 1980s, and by a possible statewide high- in the Reagan administration , lobbied speed bullet train w i t h a terminal in rhe HUD Oil behalf of the project, and H U D redevelopment zone, ft turned o u t that promised SIN m i l l i o n in subsidies tor Bob Lanier hated rail . Founders Park, 1 Metro r a i l, and bullet trains all disap- the redevelopment as another public- peared into the dustbin ot history, along private partnership.-" Cuney Homes was HACH's lirsl public housing project (Slayton Nunn-Millon McGinly, architects, 1940; first phase of ongoing maderniiotion completed 1993, Bradfield, Richards & Associates). Located in Third Ward across from Texas with the comprehensive p l a n n i n g a n d zoning ili.it W h i t m i r e had touted. By 1989, however, this project t o o had Southern University, it was a blacks-only complex until the Gvil Rights Act of 1964 mandated desegregation. soured. It was over budget by $2.2 m i l - lion, p r o m p t i n g local papers to c o m p l a i n St. Regis and f o u r others, unraveled, development." W o r k i n g w i t h University Lanier has done little to u n d o H A C H ' s that no budgets or reliable accounting costing the F D I C S7 m i l l i o n ; blame was of H o u s t o n architecture instructor N i a dismal record. Flouston n o w ranks last information were available f r o m H A C H pinned on the d o w n t u r n in the rental Dorian Becnel, Johnson and F o u r th W a r d among all large American cities in housing 1 for rhe project.-* A l t h o u g h this was the market." A n d H A C H was still unable to residents began to make a counterpropos- assistance to poor families. 1 '' H U D a u d i - identical p r o b l e m that had caused rhe manage its basic accounting. H U D forced al, based on grassroots improvements tors have recommended that H A C H repay MeConn-era H A C H scandal to erupt, the unrepentant agency to disgorge rather than displacement and redevelop- Si.5 m i l l i o n for "misused housing funds." and although W h i t m i r e , Pate, and refunds a m o u n t i n g to $ 2 7 0 , 0 0 0 to public- ment, called rhe Allen Parkway HUD auditors f o u n d that I I A C H still has 1 1 Phillips had all promised to clean housing residents for "overcharges." Community Campus concept. I m p r o v e d no credible maintenance program and HAtTl's house, the agency still lacked housing and sweat equity w o u l d enable that 89 percent of all units inspected did basic accounting systems. H U D pulled Undeterred by market realities, American Fourth W a r d residents to redevelop their not meet quality standards. H U D f o u n d out ot the H o l i d a y Inn redevelopment General and Cullcn ( e n t e r , t w o corpora- neighborhood to meet their o w n needs. that the p o or c o n d i t i o n of the housing project, w h i c h then fell apart in M a y tions interested in Fourth W a r d redevel- Because of H A C H ' s inability to sell the projects was caused not by tenant abuse, 1989. The old hotel remains an empty opment since 1987, announced plans in Allen Parkway Village property, the but rather by poor maintenance. ^ 9 hulk to this d a y . - 1990 for Founders Park, a 600-acre founders Park plan w o u l d never leave the draw m i ; boards. Flic community development ot upscale townhouses and In other w o r d s , n o t h i n g had changed at campus plan is still being cited in current HACH in the Nineties apartment buildings along w i t h s h o p p i n g , HACH since the 1952 scandal. A succes- negotiations, as the w r a n g l i n g continues offices, and a series of t o w n squares, sion of H o u s t o n mayors has failed to between saving the public housing project The bursting of the great Texas real parks, and small lakes — all to he built in administer F I A C H in a responsible m a n - versus commercial development. (See estate bubble of the I 980s t o o k w i t h it Fourth W a r d and on rhe sire of Allen ner, a l l o w i n g millions of dollars to disap- 1 2 "Update: Allen Parkway V i l l a g e . " p, H . I many of the state's banks, savings and Parkway Village. rhis plan was predt pear w i t h o u t a trace. Neither taxpayers loans, and developers, rendering any cated on H A C H ' s sale of Allen Parkway nor public housing residents have potential f o u r t h W a r d development pi.in Village to private-sector interests. As ot 199 I, H A C H was administering far benefited f r o m this t\ pe ot publiL by the city worse than redundant. I In fewer public housing units than San housing a u t h o r i t y . • downturn also caused further problems In response, Allen Parkway Village Antonio, N e w a r k , Baltimore, and other 1 1 for H A C H ' s "entrepreneurial " ventures. Resident Council president l.cnwood E. much smaller cities. ft had a system- Johnson proposed rehabilitation ot Allen wide vacancy rate of 32 percent, largely In 1990, H A C H ' s 1970s investments in Parkway Village " f o l l o w e d by emergence because of rhe number of units it was unsubsidi/ed housing in the f o r m of sub- ot small community businesses that holding vacant at Allen Parkway Village, urban apartment complexes, such as the would result in gradual economic a number that had increased substantially 14 1 9
TIMELINE OF UPDATE: ALLEN PROJECTS PARKWAY VILLAGE
Brad T v e r
(All tomplexes ore tonvenlioimlpvblit homing family develop- or rhc l.ist IS years, Allen Parkway ments unless olhermsB mled.) FVillage has been the stakes in a sec- saw name ot pinker between various 19 Jonuory 1938 — HACH established by Houston development interests and a loose-knit Gty Council advocacy glOUP spearheaded by the Allen 1940 — Cuney Homes, 3260 Truxillo, 564 units Parkway Village Resident Council and the council's president, Lenwood E. Allen Parkway Village, built in 1943 and designed by a gtoap of architects led by MacKie & Ksmrath. 1941 —Kelly Village, 1119 Grove, 333 units Johnson. At issue: whether ro tear down rhe 55 year-old, historically and architec- 1942 — Irvinton Village, 2901 Fulton, 318 units turally significant 1,01)0 unit complex and let developers in to start from 1943 — Allen Parkway Village, 1600 Allen scratch, or to rehabilitate the existing Parkway, 1,000 units
1952 — Clayton Homes, 1919 Runnels, 348 units
1975 — 75 Lyerly, 200 units (Section 23 leased There is no faith among elderly development) the residents that the 1975 — 7225 Bellerive, 210 units {Section 2 3 leased elderly development) land will retain any but token use as public 1976 [major rehabilitation 1986) — Lincoln Park, 790 West Utile York, 264 units housing if the complex 1977 — Oxford Place Apartments, 605 Berry Road, is demolished. 230 units
1978 (reconstructed 1989) — Foresl Green property, after years of neglect, so it can Townhouses, 8906 Foresl Hollow, 100 units serve its original purpose, as low-income The daytare center at Clayton Homes. El Mercado del Sol is visible in the background. public housing. The battle is being and 1978—6000 Telephone Rood, 200 units (Section 8 has been fought on many fronts, generat- new construction elderly development) ing myriad peripheral issues. Allen 1 Petei Drvirr ,imi John Alius, "Housing Policy's I'i hlournoy, "Houston Project," p. 2. Parkway Village now symbolizes not just Moment of Troth," American Prospect, Summer 20 Flournoy, "L\ IIUD Officers Had Doubts." 1979 — twing Apartments, 1815 Ewing, 42 units IWS, pp. 6K-77. housing issues but racial issues, class 21 Scott Henson, "11ACH Lays an l:.gg." IV.v.is 2 Rachel IS, Btatt, "The Rule >>i I tUD in I touting and Observer. 12 July 1991,p. 12. 1981 — Long Drive Townhomes, 6767 long Drive, issues, accountability issues, architectural Community Development Systems."" .i working paper 100 units (Section 8 new construction elderly and historical issues, policy issues, cammiaioned by ;i p u d
acceptable proposal for the property. 1 a? &-n%s li'ssan pan K I > Dec »? irnicni.sjifi r-. If they can get a lawyer, one challenge to According to Johnson and his supporters, demolition may be raised over Allen ilu-: assurances have been steadil) erod- Parkway Village's I9SS listing in the ed and contradicted, in a fashion HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON National Register ol 1 listork Places, ^ PO KB S!)n • i f l U S I C v 1EXAS 7;2S2-iTn . p i ! ) * > 0 * * ' described by architectural historian and which necessitates the Section 106 histor-
Allen Parkway Village advocate Stephen wu.j, iitEAnvtvian w ical preservation review prior to demoli- Fox as "remarkabl e for its lies, distor- tion. H A C H initiated the review process tions, and misrepresentations," with the l e x a s Historical Commission , nhta JOHM 1. ! » » : M • but Johnson claims that the review's
T0.A.-4V.C0OT-;.. mandate for public involvement has been O n the other side ot the fence, H A C H Fabciiiry 28, 199:i executive director Joy Fitzgerald claims In passed by a commission friendly to that the "partnership " proposed by XJrmKMAIO HACH and hostile to the Resilient Cisncros remains intact, and that " i n lie? t r. Marcbnaj* Council. Allen Parkway Village was nom- Daputy Assistant Sttci u t a i y the last IK m o n t h s , both H U D and office of Dif.runcud Public housing inated in 1993 as a state archaeological U.S. Dapartaiuret of Eiuuy.uig HACFI have met w i t h the residents c o n - and Urban Devnlopatuit landmark, bur this was tabled indefinitely 451 Sevan tfi S t . , S.W. sistently for the purpose of developing Washing-ton D.c. 204in by the Texas Historical C o m m i s s i o n alter guiding principles." Dear Assistant S*ci*tary Harchnaiu Lieutenant G o v e r n o r bob bullock (at Mayor Lanier's request) called in the stall By tftia l o t t o i bo oaviied that on February j v , 1995 ttia Yet H A C H , a n d apparently I I U D , do not Board of Ceamia!iian«rs of th« Housir.g Authority of tba o f the commission for a consultation. City of Souat™ (HACH) votad unanisously tc saa* tne trust Johnson and the Resident Coucil to approval of xltt DQpcrLnant of Housing and Urban Johnson points to this in support of his Qavalopstant to demolish 35D u n i t s at Allan Pfcrkway make "best use" of the land w i t h o u t Village. suspicion that the democratic process is HACH oversight. The council's proposed An applicatio n far daonlition is being i l o a l l z a d and w i l l being subverted in order to hasten demo- be auQBlttad to your o i f i e e by March 17, 1999. alternative to d e m o l i t i on is w h a t has been lition. The Frost-Leland congressional called a " c o m m u n i t y campus p l a n , " Hist Sinoaralr, amendment ot I 9K~\ w h i c h prohibits the presented by the late University of If—^f use of federal funds for demolition , may Houston architecture professor V. Nta ritxgarald also provide grounds for a legal challenge. executive Director Dorian Becnc! in 19S9 and supported since 1992 by Catherine M. Roberts. And so the 18-year conflict continues, F.mhraeed and refined by the Resident Preservation Act of 1966 to demolish the KiiMnn, in association w i t h H o u s t o n wish H.'U.II pursuing the city's decades Coucil, it calls tor rehabilitation of exist- greater part of Allen Parkway Village. developer and Lanier campaign supporter long agenda of d e m o l i t i o n and Johnson ing units and provision of educational, 1 he initial application called foi the 1.1/ Wayne Duddlesten — had presented no and the Allen Parkway Village residenrs voi it i