THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS
By MATTHEW LANE
mlane@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — When Helen Bunting moved out of Riverview Apartments more than a year ago, she did not think she would be moving into one of the new HOPE VI houses in the Sherwood/Hiwassee area of town.
Luckily for Bunting, she was wrong.
The Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning to commemorate Bunting being the first person to move into one of the new HOPE VI houses on Hiwassee.
David Grace —dgrace@timesnews.net
HELEN BUNTING HOLDS UP THE KEYS TO HER NEW HOME. BUNTING IS THE FIRST RESIDENT TO MOVE IN ONE OF THE HOPE VI HOMES ON HIWASSEE.
“I feel great, really good ... excited and nervous. I’ve been crying. I really didn’t think it would happen,” Bunting said, standing inside her new 1,600-square-foot house. “When the apartments came down, I didn’t think I would ever get one of the new houses. It’s been a long process, and everyone has been great. I worked on it, and they worked with me.”
Bunting grew up in the Riverview community and lived in the apartments for 10 years. Now, she lives in a new three-bedroom, two-bath house — the first she’s ever owned. Bunting is encouraging other former Riverview Apartments residents to seek one of the HOPE VI houses.
David Grace —dgrace@timesnews.net
THIS HOUSE ON HIWASSEE STREET IS THE FIRST ONE IN THE HOPE VI PROGRAM READY TO SHELTER ITS NEW OWNER - HELEN BUNTING.
“Because you might think they’re not affordable, but they are affordable,” Bunting said. “The price of the homes, you think you can’t afford that. I can barely afford rent where I am, but they are affordable, and I wish more people from Riverview had applied.”
The HOPE VI project is a $30 million redevelopment project taking place in two Kingsport neighborhoods — Riverview and the Sherwood/Hiwassee area of town. The plan calls for replacing old, run-down structures with new, affordable houses.
The project began more than two years ago when the city received $11.9 million in HOPE VI revitalization funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
At that point, the KHRA purchased and demolished 29 houses along Sherwood and Hiwassee with plans to replace them with 24 new, affordable houses.
HOPE VI Director Doris Ladd said the KHRA has contracts with 15 families for the houses along Sherwood and Hiwassee, and the remaining nine need owners. Two owners are expected to close on houses in February, with two or three others in March.
Construction on all of the houses should be completed by the end of March.
“The houses may sit a little while because some are taking advantage of a savings opportunity where what they save, the fund would match two-to-one toward the down payment, and all require six months of participation,” Ladd said. “Some may not close until June or July.”
When the KHRA began the HOPE VI project and demolished Riverview Apartments, the agency laid out guidelines on who would be offered a chance at purchasing the new homes. The KHRA first offered the new homes to displaced Riverview residents, then to residents living in other housing developments or Section 8 housing, then city and county employees, and finally the general public.
Ladd said Bunting is the only former Riverview Apartments resident in the pipeline to get one of the houses. Five are from Section 8 or public housing, one is a city employee, while the rest are from the general public. Before being demolished, Riverview Apartments had nearly 90 families as residents.
Ladd said she had hoped more former residents had contacted the KHRA about purchasing the houses.
“I would encourage any of them to come and talk to us,” Ladd said. “We sent letters and had meetings. They need to take the initiative and talk to us, any time. We are there.”
As for the Riverview phase of the project, the old Riverview Apartments were demolished in February 2008, and Ladd said work on the 38 homes in the Riverview community is expected to begin in June.
“The market for our credits has been difficult, with the economic environment. We do have a commitment for those credits, and we’re looking to see if we can do a little bit better on the rate,” Ladd said. “We’re still in the market to maybe find other investors, and the plan is to make that determination by the end of the month and move forward.”
Ladd said the credit process has been delayed by the state by four or five months, which delayed the start of house construction in the Riverview community.
There are two main requirements for getting on the list for the new houses — no one in the household could have a house in their name within the past three years, and certain income levels had to be met — a single person could not make more than $26,050; a couple $29,750; and a family of four $37,200.
