Oak Ridge Today

Tennessee housing agency to announce blight elimination partnership with Oak Ridge

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THDA Perrey and Gooch June 8 2016

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency awarded the City of Oak Ridge a $500,000 grant on Wednesday, June 9, 2016, that will be used to renovate more than 60 single-family homes. Pictured above are THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey, left, and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. THDA and Perrey will be back on Monday, July 11, to announce a partnership with the City of Oak Ridge to support the implementation of THDA’s Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program, or BEP. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency will announce a partnership with the City of Oak Ridge to support the implementation of THDA’s Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program, or BEP, on Monday.

The announcement will be made by THDA Executive Director Ralph Perrey at 1:30 p.m. Monday, July 11. The announcement will be made in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom, which is located at 200 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program assists with the removal of blighted properties in targeted areas within Tennessee, a media advisory said. THDA works in partnership with approved program partners to strategically target residential single-family properties for demolition, site improvement, and acceptable reuse, the advisory said. [Read more…]

State housing grant of $500,000 will be used to renovate more than 60 homes

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THDA Check Presentation to Oak Ridge June 8 2016 Slider

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency awarded the City of Oak Ridge a $500,000 grant on Wednesday, June 9, 2016, that will be used to renovate more than 60 single-family homes. Pictured above are THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey, third from left, with other state and Oak Ridge officials. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The $500,000 state housing grant that Oak Ridge received Wednesday will be used to renovate more than 60 homes, officials said.

The HOME Program grant is from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA. It’s funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered in part by the THDA in Tennessee.

“The HOME dollars will be of good use in making these homes safe, sound, and affordable,” said Ralph M. Perrey, THDA executive director.

The city plans to use the money to renovate 63 owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Manhattan District Overlay zone. Oak Ridge created the zone, which includes so-called “legacy homes,” mostly in the center of the city, to improve the development that is carried out in its oldest neighborhoods, a press release said.

The HOME grant money will allow Oak Ridge to replace electrical wiring systems and wall insulation, and install double-paned windows for the targeted homes, which date back to the World War II era, when the city was involved in the Manhattan Project. The city’s work under the HOME grant will be carried out in conjunction with Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient, or MORE2, a project that is performing energy retrofits for 229 homes in the designated neighborhoods, the press release said. [Read more…]