Why is affordable housing in Oklahoma City so barren of trees? Your questions answered.

The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer, joined by Mark Gillett Dan Straughan, executive director of the Oklahoma City Housing Authority, fielded reader questions Friday during Lackmeyer's weekly OKC Central Live Chat.

Each week, Steve hosts a live chat, giving readers a chance to ask questions about Oklahoma City development and growth as well as an opportunity to ask direct questions of OKC newsmakers like Gillett, Mayor David Holt and Dan Straughan, the executive director of the Homeless Alliance.

You can join Steve most Fridays at 10 a.m. to add your comments and questions about downtown development.

To be able to ask questions and interact with Steve or special guests, you must have a digital subscription to The Oklahoman and you must be logged in. Right now, you can get unlimited digital access to all of our content for $1 for the first three months.

No easy answer for turning abandoned apartments into affordable housing

Q: Good morning gentlemen. Mr. Gillett, I see several abandoned and/or distressed apartment communities around the city where the owners just don't care. Why can't the city offer to take these eyesores off their hands at a discount, and rehab them into affordable housing? 

Gillett: While the answer may seem simple, the affordable housing world is complex. If there isn't a project in the works, then the initial action against apartment complexes that may be uninhabitable needs to be taken by the City of Oklahoma City with opportunities for discussion afterwards.

Funding shortfalls, long waits elude an easy solution

Q: Given an endless budget and no time frame, what would it cost to fix the affordable housing issue in OKC? 

Gillett: Considering the fact that 30,000 people are on the assisted wait list in Oklahoma City, the need for funding is greater than ever.

The issue is how do we provide sustainable affordable housing for the next several generations. That requires HUD and Congress to allow flexibility at the local level. Flexibility of funds, flexibility of regulations, and flexibility of programs is needed in order for public housing authorities to meet the demand. The Oklahoma City Housing Authority is working with HUD and Congress to attempt to meet those needs. While there are funding estimates based on the current environment, it is difficult to measure because each year the dollar amount goes up.

Lackmeyer: If I recall correctly, the waiting list was lower last year while I was working with The Frontier and Curbside Chronicle on stories delving into our city's affordable housing challenges. Is the number going up?

Gillett: Yes, the number is going up. The 30,000 I answered above is the public housing waiting list and the Section 8 voucher waiting list. The 30,000 can include duplicates from both lists. It is important to remember the 30,000 number are people. Those people include teachers, first responders, daycare workers, grocery store workers, librarians, and people who serve Oklahoma City.

Fort Worth, Denver are models for addressing affordable housing

Q: What is a city you can point to that has a good example of affordable housing and how it has benefited the community?

Gillett: There are many cities that have taken unique approaches to the new model of affordable housing. Fort Worth, Texas has developed permanent supported housing models. Denver has utilized transportation alternatives to improve their housing. Housing authorities in Washington State have been able to incorporate education, schools and colleges into their communities.

This points to the partnerships that are possible in every community to increase the options for self sufficiency and a model that incorporates a resident first approach.

Sooner Haven a model of aspirations to improve Section 8 housing

Q: How do you explain the difference between affordable housing and section 8 housing? I think a lot of people think since it is affordable, it will also be not nice. 

Gillett: Affordable housing is the overall concept of providing housing for folks who can not pay market rate rents. One piece of the affordable housing pool is Section 8 voucher housing. The other types of affordable housing may include tax credit vouchers, public housing units, and private non-subsidized but affordable housing.

The Oklahoma City Housing Authority is working to improve the available amenities as we transition from older housing stock toward a new affordable housing model.

The new model will include newer appliances, kitchens and baths, community centers. We are trying to make these developments fit into neighborhoods better. With Sooner Haven, at NE 36 and Lottie, we took down the fence that was setting the development aside. We provided more access via streets and sidewalks to the development so it felt like you were more in a neighborhood compared to an old model public housing project.

Housing authority working with residents striving for self-sufficiency

Q: Is the ultimate goal of the Oklahoma City Housing Authority to transition residents from public assistance housing to their own housing? If so, how do you accomplish those goals? How successful do you think the housing authority is doing towards those goals? The public perception (right or wrong) is that public assistance housing is a long-term (permanent) answer for many and the only housing situation they will ever know. Is that perception correct? 

Gillett: Everyone likes stability in their neighborhood of choice. Just like you and I might live in a neighborhood for generations, others make that choice also. We at the Oklahoma City Housing Authority do provide services designed to increase self-sufficiency that might include access to education, daycare options for parents, and financial literacy training.

Affordability agreements can terminate, further shrinking housing options

Q: Let's say you build affordable housing, and it rents for $600/month (not sure what is considered "affordable" these days) and then it is sold off to a private owner. What is to stop them from increasing the rents and thus creating a cycle of affordable housing turned market rent housing?

Gillett: While each apartment community is unique, affordability clauses are driven by the funding source used to construct or renovate the property. Typically, those clauses require a 20-year commitment to maintain affordability. These clauses are set by legislators. Once these clauses expire, there is nothing to stop owners from changing rents to market rate or higher.

More: Out-of-state investors are gobbling up Oklahoma housing supply, driving up prices locally

Trees, landscaping needed at housing authority properties

Q: There doesn't seem to be very many shade trees at Oklahoma City Housing Authority communities. Why? 

Gillett: We too would like to see more landscaping at these communities. As we revitalize the neighborhoods, we are including landscape plans and we will take more shade trees into consideration.

The Oklahoma City Housing Authority was recently approved for tax increment financing assistance and MAPS 4 funding for Oak Grove at SW 15 and Portland Avenue. This funding will be used to renovate existing buildings, provide better street and sidewalk access, build a community center, a new Head Start facility and 18 new apartments.

The layout of Oak Grove provides opportunities for small parks and play areas for children. We plan to incorporate landscaping and shade into those areas.

The development will include an OnCue to be built on the northeast corner of the development.

Affordable housing not a priority for private developers

Q: If there is a developer out there that is interested in building affordable housing, but it isn't beneficial to them (they don't make money) are there programs out there that can entice developers to add affordable housing and make it profitable for them at the same time?

Gillett: You are correct, the development of affordable housing is very challenging and oftentimes is not profitable for a traditional developer. In Oklahoma City, we believe the housing authority and its non-profit Community Enhancement Corporation are best suited to act as developer.

Affordable housing is more successful when using tax credits, project-based vouchers, affordable housing bonds, and other financing options available.

The red tape involved with such tools discourages traditional developers from tackling affordable housing projects.

More: The high price of affordable downtown housing

Affordable housing plans being coordinated with public transit access

Q: I would guess some people who live in affordable housing can't afford a car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. on a vehicle. With the discussion of creation of regional transit in the metro area, has that affected locations of affordable housing and access to mass transit? Is mass transit taken into account when discussing location?  

Gillett: We currently have public transit available at or very near to each of our public housing developments. As we work to revitalize and to develop the housing under MAPS 4, we are considering access to the current bus system and the new bus rapid transit lines. It is important that those folks benefiting from affordable housing have access to public transportation.

Affordable housing tenants include veterans, seniors, families and residents with disabilities

Q: The thing that seems to scare most people when they hear that affordable housing will be built in their neighborhood is the prospect of crime with low-income housing. Is that an urban myth or is that a real concern? 

Gillett: It's important to remember that crime occurs in every neighborhood. Just because a property is public housing or has Section 8 vouchers does not have a direct correlation to the amount of crime that exists in that neighborhood.

Our neighbors that live in affordable housing are veterans, seniors, families with children, people with disabilities and people in the workforce.

Hamilton Courts site a possible site for new county jail

Q: Years ago, I remember the Hamilton Courts units located on SE 15th and Grand being a large complex. I realize that the units were razed nearly 25 years ago. Does the city of OKC still own the land or is it now prime developmental land?

Lackmeyer: I'm going to answer this one.

Hamilton Courts reflected, in my opinion based on research, a time when Congress went from New Deal level funding to address an affordable housing crisis to a change where public housing took on a bad reputation, right or wrong and funding somewhat disappeared.

The complex fell into disrepair by the mid-1970s, less than a decade after it opened and was closed not long after. The complex was razed more than 30 years ago. It was bought a couple of years ago by Pat Garrett and is now a possible site for a new county jail.

Could fairgrounds be turned into a district?

Q: Nice to see progress on the new fairgrounds arena! Many longtime residents of Oklahoma City, like myself harken back to our youth when the fairgrounds was transformed into almost a magical place once a year with all of the iconic images of the monorail, Space Needle, Arch, aircraft on display, etc.  

Today, it’s not just the absence of those attractions, but the general lack of upkeep to the grounds and infrastructure that so many of us find, shall I say, falling short of today’s OKC standards! So, my question is with all of the land the fairgrounds encompasses, could it benefit from establishing a TIF to turn it into its own district, attract private investment and thus help to finance its ongoing operations and upkeep, and infuse new life into the fairgrounds? 

Lackmeyer: All of the magic that we remember from our childhoods is gone. Whether right or wrong, the fairgrounds is really an equine event center that just happens to also host the State Fair of Oklahoma and other localized events.

Your questions are worth considering and they might be best looked at in creating more of a home for the horse show associations that visit our city.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Could Fort Worth, Denver be models for OKC in affordable housing?