The Dallas Housing Authority will negotiate a contract with Montecito Palms apartments at 8401 Skillman to use 50 units to house low-income families recommended by Family Gateway, which provides services to homeless families with children.
District 10 Councilman Jerry Allen says he received the notice today and says he believes similar initiatives were announced in four other city council districts, including districts 2, 4, 8 and 14.
The next step: the DHA will draw up a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with the owners, Integrity Asset Management, who also owns Trinity Palms, where DHA recently placed several formerly homeless families. Some Lake Highlands residents have taken advantage of the opportunity to help out there.
Allen says Integrity has initiated after-school programs and has apparently been doing a good job of managing the program. He says he hasn’t heard any complaints.
Whether or not he’s OK with the proposal is relatively inconsequential — there’s not much he can do about it, according to the DHA’s MaryAnn Russ.
As we have explained in the past, councilmen and city government officials do not have the authority to determine where the DHA can and cannot place subsidized housing units, either permanent supportive or otherwise. The DHA operates as an arm of the federal HUD, and “the city does not have sign-off on this process,” Russ says.
For more than you ever wanted to know about housing and how it affects our neighborhood, read our Subsidized Housing Series.
