10/31/2007
Media Contact:
Bruce R. Baird, IHA, (317) 261-7181
Angie Nussmeyer, DMD, (317) 327-6709 |
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Mayor, community leaders tour new Sen. Robert Lee Brokenburr Education Center
INDIANAPOLIS – Mayor Bart Peterson today joined Indianapolis Housing Agency Executive Director Rufus “Bud” Myers and community leaders to tour the recently completed Senator Robert Lee Brokenburr Education Center, the focal point of the Red Maple Grove development.
Named for Senator Robert Lee Brokenburr, the first African-American elected to serve in the Indiana State Senate, the 8,500 square foot education and community center will provide supportive services to former and future residents.
Located on the site of the former Brokenburr Trails Apartments, Red Maple Grove is a mixed-income development, which will create 217 quality housing opportunities, provide approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space and offer 2.5 acres of park space, dedicated to Indy Parks. Brokenburr Trails Apartments was razed in the fall of 2003 to make way for this new development.
“During his 20 years in office, Sen. Brokenburr authored many bills that passed into law, especially in the area of civil rights,” Mayor Peterson said. “The new education and community center in the heart of this revitalization effort is a fitting tribute to a man who made significant contributions to our community.”
All residents taking part in the HOPE VI Community and Supportive Service program will participate in a family self-sufficiency program, which includes intensive case management and services coordination designed to help residents with a variety of educational, employment and life-skills. Currently, more than 170 families are completing self-sufficiency action plans and receiving services provided by a network of community partners.
In addition to the supportive services, the center offers youth programming, a computer lab, swimming pool and two tennis courts. Plus, plans call for the opening of a full-day kindergarten classroom in the community center to serve children and families in the neighborhood for the 2008-2009 school year.
The supportive services offered at Red Maple Grove are consistent with guidelines in the mayor’s Blueprint to End Homelessness, the city’s ambitious plan released in 2002 to end chronic homelessness in Indianapolis. The blueprint calls for preventing future homelessness by helping at-risk households obtain the skills and resources necessary to support their housing needs.
“The IHA and our partners understand that building a successful mixed- income community and transforming the lives of public housing residents requires more than building construction ‘bricks and mortar,’” IHA Executive Director Bud Myers said.
All but 17 of the apartments in this mixed-use, mixed-income development will be priced below market rate and 68 rental units will be reserved for households whose annual earnings are 30 percent or below the area median income, or slightly more than $19,000 for a family of four. The creation of these units targeted for very low-income households is another integral part of the mayor’s Blueprint to End Homelessness.
Construction on the first phase of development, which includes 40 rental units in 15 buildings, was completed in December 2005 and this phase is fully leased. The second phase of development consists of 60 units of rental housing in 25 buildings. Construction began in August 2006 and the completion date is scheduled for November 2007. The third and final phase of the rental development will have 65 rental apartments in 26 buildings and construction is expected to begin in November of 2007.
Besides the three-phase rental development of the property, homeownership opportunities, marketed to families earning between 60% to 80% of the area median income, are available. This phase consists of 52 detached single family homes that are currently under construction. Model homes are being built by two local home builders, Innovative Construction Services and Minkis Homes.
The multi-million dollar redevelopment project was made possible by a $16.8 million HOPE VI grant awarded to IHA by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city’s investment totals more than $5.5 million, including $3 million in HOME funds, $2.5 million in infrastructure improvements within the new development area and $80,000 to manage the new on-site park.
Red Maple Grove project partners include the city of Indianapolis, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, IHA and BRIndy, LLC, the project developer. Other contributors include the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, J.P. Morgan Chase, the Richmond Group, R/ROS Community Development Corporation and many in-kind community partners.
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