education & housing
The 4th Ward. For years, real estate developers hungrily eyed the property for its redevelopment value, historians saw it as a link to Houston’s African-American heritage, and poverty-stricken residents called its $200-per-month housing home.
“Poor people were being pushed out, run out, run over, squeezed out, not only politically but also economically,” said Jew Don Boney, who is now Houston City Council Member for District D. The 4th Ward is part of his district.
Controversy raged between the factions. Some landowners such as Joseph Caronna, 83, a former resident of Bailey Street in the 4th Ward said that the threat of eminent domain was used to help persuade landowners to sell property to Houston Renaissance for only $5 a square foot. Houston Renaissance was headed up by Julio Laguarta, a real estate developer who had plans for gentrification of the 4th Ward.
Boney said he doesn’t know what Laguarta promised people, and he seems not to want to rehash the past controversy. The City of Houston, to his knowledge, had never intended to use the power of eminent domain in the 4th Ward, he said.
Boney wanted to revitalize the 4th Ward, and he had a plan. Boney did not want Houston to make the same mistake that Chicago made with its high-rise, low-income housing structures that Boney described as “full of drugs and underprivileged, socially disadvantaged people.”
“If you pile all these people who have a multiplicity of economic, educational and social problems in one area on top of each other with no diversity, what you get is ongoing, continuing, negative reinforcement of that which is not working, that which is hurt, that which is not good,” Boney said.
He also did not want the 4th Ward to go the way Midtown was developed. Midtown, which is just south of the 4th Ward and is also part of Boney’s district, boasts new townhouses that sell in the $200,000-and-above range.
“You will not likely find any low- or moderate-income families living in the new construction of Midtown because the cost of the land and the construction is too high,” said Boney.
Boney’s plan for the 4th Ward included mixed-income housing, along with historic housing, single-family and multi-family housing.
Boney wanted to ensure that low- and moderate-income families could afford to live in the 4th Ward, but knew it would take more than just social activism to bring that idea to fruition. A knowledge of law, financing, real estate and politics would be necessary.
“The fact of the matter is that people who understand municipal finance and housing development and banking and financial structures understand how to use these structures,” said Boney. “Many times the average citizen does not understand how to use these structures.
“It’s like going down to the courthouse with a good lawyer or a bad lawyer,” Boney said. “The law is the same, but your ability to obtain justice may be dependent upon your retaining somebody who can explain to you how to make this work for [your] benefit.”
Boney worked with African-American ministers whose churches still exist in the 4th Ward to help them form non-profit community development corporations. These CDCs, of which there are now four, were set up to work in tandem with the City of Houston to provide single-family housing for low- and moderate-income families, said Boney.
“The city does not fund CDCs,” said Boney. “The only thing the city does is offer some of them that qualify a start-up operating grant.”
The City of Houston awarded a $50,000 grant to Miracle of Hope, Inc. for “operating expenses to assist in developing affordable housing in the 4th Ward area,” according to the Council Meeting minutes of July 18, 2000.
Miracle of Hope, Inc.’s spokesperson, Cheryl Parker, said that the city also gives qualified buyers a one-time subsidy of $19,500 to help purchase a home produced by the CDC.
“We [Houston] can’t afford to do this in every neighborhood,” said Boney, “but because of the unique nature of Freedman’s Town, very deep financial subsidies [should be provided] so that low-income families can own housing in the 4th Ward.”
Parker said the $19,500 subsidy is subtracted from the $92,000 sales price of a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath, one-car-garage home. The average monthly payment for the subsidized $72,500 house is approximately $745 per month. A family of five would need to make between $1579 and $4213 per month to qualify.
Four low- or moderate-income families have moved in. Boney said that is further proof that his plan is working.
“And when you add up the affordable units, Allen Parkway Village, the historical units, and the multi-family units, you [will] have more poor people in there than when we started,” Boney said.
But what about the renters who were paying $200 a month for shelter? Where do they fit in?
“Can you justify allowing a neighborhood to continue to deteriorate worse than what it was,” said Boney, “or is it better to utilize structures and policies and strategies that create the real possibility of people indigenous to the community redeveloping the neighborhood?”
“I believe the latter,” he said.
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