NIAGARA FALLS — In spite of some obstacles and delays along the way, tenants soon will begin moving into the most modern public housing development in the city.

Construction workers are putting the finishing touches on the first few new homes under the Hope VI program that is replacing the decaying, 67-year-old Center Court project in the city’s North End.

“Center Court originally was opened in 1943, largely to accommodate the families of men who had been called away to serve their country in World War II, as well as the many families who moved here from the South to work in the wartime plants that then were Niagara Falls’ industrial backbone,” said W. Lee Whitaker, director of occupancy for the Niagara Falls Housing Authority.

Linda L. Goodman, executive director of Norstar Development USA, added that the useful life of such construction usually is expected to be about 30 years to 50 years, and Center Court has far exceeded that expectation. Norstar is the developer selected by the Housing Authority to oversee the new construction.

A similar project, the replacement of Lakeview Homes on Buffalo’s West Side, was completed in 2006. In that program, 660 barracks-style public housing units were torn down and replaced by a suburban-looking community of two-story townhouses with private courtyards at a cost of about $98 million.

Some of the Center Court tenants took a bus tour of the new Lakeview Homes, and the president of the tenants association said, “It looks great. They did a great job there.”

Association president Owen Steed Sr. said he and his 10-year-old son, Owen Jr., look forward to moving into one of the new units at Center Court. He said the neighborhood there “will be good for the entire city . . . bringing more people there will also bring more businesses, and that will be good for

everybody.”

The “old” Center Court, which will be torn down, has 134 housing units, about 100 of which are occupied, said Patricia L. Barone, deputy executive director of the Housing Authority.

“Those units are not up to modern standards. Their size and layouts are outmoded. The sewage system and the electrical wiring need repairs. Patching them up no longer is an option,” she said.

The Hope program is a major plan of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development meant to revitalize the nation’s worst public-housing projects into mixed-income developments.

Goodman said the Housing Authority “is a good landlord” that kept “the units up in a very high standard, but there was not enough capital funds to replace things like water and sewer lines that eventually would have needed to be replaced.”

In its application for federal approval, the Housing Authority said:

“Center Court is a severely distressed, 134-unit property, constructed in 1943, consisting of one, two and three-bedroom units in two-level buildings on an 18-acre site. The property suffers from major system deficiencies, including obsolete electrical, gas and plumbing systems that are unsafe and have exceeded their useful life.

“Poor soil conditions have caused extensive damage to the foundations and the heating and plumbing systems which have proven dangerous and costly to upgrade. Mold and mildew present an immediate and large public health problem. The units are not energy efficient, and the room configuration and unit sizes are inadequate for resident needs.

“The site’s super block configuration results in severe isolation from the surrounding community as well as indefensible and unusable open space.”

Obstacles aplenty

In spite of that description, the Housing Authority’s first obstacle was in persuading the Department of Housing and Urban Development to designate Center Court as an eligible Hope development. Its first three applications, starting in 2004, were turned down. The fourth application finally was approved in September 2006, one of only four approvals that year in the entire nation.

After financing was obtained, construction began in February 2008.

Then came another major obstacle. The Housing Authority voluntarily stopped construction in August of that year when it was belatedly discovered that the site contained potentially hazardous ash from a nearby city trash incinerator that dated from the 1920s or ’30s or earlier. The area was re-mediated, and construction commenced anew last July.

Part of the first phase, eventually to consist of 115 living units, is expected to be ready for occupancy this spring. Steed, the president of the Tenants Association, expects to be one of the first tenants to move in. Among those units, 64 will be for existing residents of Center Court and 51 will be for new residents. That phase is expected to be finished in December 2010.

Phase 2 will consist of 100 rental units, and phase 3 will provide 31 homes for purchase by new owners.

An eventual plan to build more units on land owned by the Housing Authority in the city’s LaSalle section has been put on hold because of the present severe constraints on home financing.

A social component

The Hope program provides much more than just modern, efficient places for people to live. It also includes a major component called “Community and Supportive Services.”

Carol Poole, who is coordinator of that component, said her job is “to help people achieve a higher standard of living. It means taking care of their needs from a social point of view as well as from a housing point of view.”

Poole said her part of the program is a five-year plan “to move residents toward self-sufficiency and economic independence through education, health and wellness initiatives, job skills training, livable wage jobs, and entrepreneurial and home ownership opportunities.”

The Community and Supportive Services Program also is responsible “for the actual relocation of all current Center Court residents to the new Hope VI site.”

“Counseling sessions,” Poole said, “are ongoing with residents in regard to eligibility requirements for relocation, issues and concerns regarding the physical move, and the relocation process in general. Workshops have been conducted and will continue to be conducted for residents regarding budgeting, housekeeping and energy conservation.”

Opposition exists

Not everyone is convinced that the Hope program is a good idea.

For example, State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, has questioned the need for more housing in Niagara Falls. He was quoted as saying, “Niagara Falls is losing population faster than any municipality in Western New York, and there are literally thousands of vacant buildings and more thousands of vacant apartments.”

Barone, the No. 2 executive on the Housing Authority staff, responded:

“Yes, but just take a look at some of those properties. You or I would not want to live there. A lot of the vacancies are because of irresponsible landlords who have let their property deteriorate. They are substandard, older housing.”

In contrast, she said, residents need “decent, affordable housing, and the Housing Authority is one of the best landlords in the city.”

Public housing is intended mainly for low-income or middle- income tenants, the elderly and the disabled.

In an effort to crack down on residential slumlords and absentee landlords, the City Council adopted an ordinance last week to require owners of rental housing and vacant housing to register with the city’s director of code enforcement. The measure is awaiting Mayor Paul A. Dyster’s expected signature.

Council Chairman Sam Fruscione said the ordinance would create a database allowing the Department of Code Enforcement “to better cite and bring to court landlords that are neglecting their property.”

Opposition to the ordinance has developed in recent days, mainly from responsible landlords who feel that they would be penalized because of actions by irresponsible owners.

The ordinance was adopted, 5-0. If the mayor were to veto it, only four votes are required to override a veto.

Because of changing conditions, a firm estimate of the cost of the Hope VI program in Niagara Falls is hard to pin down. But it is expected to cost at least $72 million.

According to a program description, “The Center Court neighborhood will once again be turned into a walkable neighborhood with new city streets connecting to other parts of the city grid, new sidewalks, a new NFTA bus stop so residents can take public transportation and leave their cars at home. . . .

“This project will remove some very old environmental debris, build new city streets and sidewalks, install all new water and sewer lines replacing those that are over 100 years old. The regrading of the site will provide much improved drainage for the entire neighborhood that has been a problem in past heavy rain events.

“Best of all, the electric utilities will be underground. This is a sound investment in the city’s infrastructure that would have eventually required replacement or additional work anyway.”

Center Court is off Centre Avenue near 15th Street.