RIVERSIDE

COMPREHENSIVE REVITALIZATION PLAN

The Wilmington Housing Authority is pleased to present its vision of the revitalization plan for the Riverside Public Housing Development. The WHA anticipates a comprehensive development approach that engages all members and interested parties of the surrounding community to participate in an overall comprehensive redevelopment and revitalization plan for the area.

Working in concert with the Kingswood Community Center, the WHA has a conceptual plan to integrate their vacant fenced portion of Riverside with the Kingswood Community Center property to construct a designated senior mid-rise building, single family homes, multi-family ownership and rental units, along with a mixed use community center consisting of designated senior space, a multi-purpose room, and an early education center for children ages 0-5 years. Given additional community involvement and support, this building can also be expanded to include a police sub-station and a Neighborhood Network Center providing internet access to both public and non-public housing residents of the community. The scope of this project can only be described in very broad and general terms until all key participants are identified and fully committed to the revitalization effort as the “bigger picture” comes into focus.

It is no secret that the Riverside project and surrounding community is in need of revitalization. The poverty levels are concentrated and the crime rates are high, which led to a disinvestment in this area over time. The WHA proposes to apply for HUD Hope VI funds (FY 2009) to begin the phased redevelopment of the project beginning with the existing vacant portion of the site that is currently fenced off and clearly “separable” from the rest of the property. This is a threshold requirement of HUD when it comes to the HOPE VI application and is a critical component of the redevelopment plan presented herein. The fact that the site is already vacant and approved for demolition gives the WHA additional scoring points on the Hope VI rated and ranked application. It also increases the ability of the WHA to present an expedited completion schedule to HUD for this project. In other words, this project is “shovel ready”. There is no relocation of existing residents to contend with, the demolition was previously approved by HUD and may very well be underway prior to submitting for the grant application.

A HUD Hope VI grant application is a significant step in the neighborhood revitalization process but it requires a significant commitment by other governmental, civic, public and private entities to support, cooperate and contribute to the comprehensive redevelopment of the entire surrounding community. This process requires a true team approach in order to be successful.

There are those who would argue that working from back to front on this project is counterintuitive, as new residents would not want to travel through the old occupied portion of Riverside to get to the revitalized section in the back once it is complete. That is why the WHA engaged the Kingswood Community Center in this process. The mutually beneficial integration of the two properties in the first phase of redevelopment provides for the creation of a transportation corridor with an extension of Rosemont Ave to Bowers Street completing a street grid from Vandever Ave. to Todd’s Lane. Residents of the new community will no longer be forced to travel through the old section of Riverside to get into the new section.

This development approach will help the overall redevelopment process move faster by allowing the WHA to start sooner. It will also create new homes that will be available for the ultimate relocation of the existing Riverside residents. In addition, this will reduce WHA relocation costs as well as the many complications associated with finding 244 existing available units to move the current residents to. This is just one of the hurdles that are avoided by building on the vacant section first instead of starting on the occupied area located closest to Northeast Blvd.