The Choice Neighborhoods Program is a competitive grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support the redevelopment of distressed public housing.  The program has three overarching goals: 

• Housing – Replace distressed public housing with high-quality mixed-income housing; 
• People  - Improve the well-being of public housing residents through education, employment, and health care assistance; and 
• Neighborhood - Invest in the neighborhood where the public housing is located to help create safe, desirable communities.

There are two types of grants available – smaller planning grants for communities just starting to develop a redevelopment plan and larger Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) grants.  The Durham Housing Authority and the City of Durham applied for and were awarded a $40 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant.

For more information about the Choice Neighborhoods program, please click here.

Durham Choice is the name for Durham’s Choice Neighborhoods program, which is managed by the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) in partnership with the City of Durham.  The program is funded by a $40 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).   

Consistent with HUD Choice Neighborhoods Program, Durham Choice funds will be used to: 

• Support the construction of replacement housing at 519 E. Main and Liberty Street.  The 214 existing public housing units will be demolished and replaced with 555 mixed-income units, including 331 affordable and 224 market-rate units, along with retail and open space.
• Provide services and support for DHA residents who were living on 519 E. Main or Liberty Street when the CNI grant was awarded or who move into the replacement housing as it is completed.  Residents can choose to work with a CNI case manager and take advantage of education, employment, and health care services offered through the CNI program.
• Make investments in the surrounding neighborhood, particularly in Hayti, to support new and existing businesses and community organizations.  

Yes.  Residents will need to relocate temporarily.  All of the existing housing at 519 E. Main and Liberty Street will be demolished and new housing will be built. The new first units are expected to be completed by the end of 2023 and additional housing units will become available over the next four years.  

No!  DHA has contracted with a relocation coordinator, Housing to Home.  Housing to Home relocation specialists will help residents identify temporary housing, provide packing materials (e.g. tape and boxes), and coordinate with a moving company to transport resident belongings to their new home.  The CNI program will pay for the cost of packing materials, movers and security deposits, if required. 

Residents also have the option to organize their own move. For details on how the self-move process works, contact Kim Graham, Relocation Coordinator at Housing to Home at (919) 321-9372 or via E-mail at kim@housingtohome.com.  

Residents who are living at 519 E. Main and Liberty Street should expect to move by the end of 2023. 

Moving supplies will be delivered to the resident’s home by the moving contractor.  Additional supplies may be requested by calling Kim Graham, Relocation Manager at (919)321-9372 or via e-mail kim@housingtohome.com. 

Temporary housing options may include a comparable unit in another DHA’s portfolio or a Tenant Protection Voucher to rent an apartment owned by a private landlord.   

Yes.  All DHA residents who were living at 519 E. Main and Liberty Street when the CNI grant was awarded (September 15, 2022) are entitled to receive Tenant Protection Vouchers.  Residents are responsible for finding an apartment to rent using the voucher.  DHA will assist residents in identifying landlords who accept vouchers. 

Tenant Protection Vouchers are provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), not by DHA.  DHA’s relocation contractor, Housing to Home, will contact each resident to complete a relocation assessment.  As part of that assessment, Housing to Home will ask residents whether they wish to receive a voucher.  Once DHA has an estimate of the number of residents who want vouchers, a request will be submitted to HUD. It typically takes 3–4 months for HUD to review, approve, and make vouchers available to DHA, which DHA will then provide to residents. 

Absolutely! All residents who were living at 519 E. Main or Liberty Street when the CNI grant was awarded have the right to return to the redeveloped site.  Residents will not be required to undergo any additional screening to qualify for new housing.  In addition, DHA will cover moving expenses for residents who are moving back to 519 E. Main/Liberty Street.   

Residents temporarily housed in other DHA properties must remain lease-compliant in order to return to the redeveloped site.  This includes staying current on rent, following conduct rules and completing annual recertifications.  Residents who receive tenant protection vouchers are also expected to stay current on their rent and remain in good standing with their landlord. 

Residents do not have to return to the 519 E. Main/Liberty Street site.  Residents can choose to stay where they are, whether that is another DHA property or a voucher-funded private apartment.   

Since the redevelopment of 519 E. Main and Liberty Street is being completed in phases, replacement units will be available in phases rather than all at once.  As replacement units become available, DHA will reach out to relocated residents to inquire if they wish to return to the new units. Residents will be contacted in the following order: 

1. Residents relocated in Phase 1 of Demolition/Relocation (Commerce Street) 
2. Residents relocated in Phase 2 of Demolition/Relocation (Dillard Street) 
3. Residents relocated in Phase 3 of Demolition/Relocation (E. Main Street) 
4. Residents who voluntarily moved offsite prior to the start of relocation 

The first replacement units are expected to be available at the end of 2024, and new units will come online in subsequent years.  All original residents of the 519 E. Main and Liberty Street site will have the opportunity to return to the redeveloped site if they wish. 

No.  The new housing will be a combination of affordable and mixed-income housing, which includes both affordable and market-rate units.  A portion of the apartments in each building will be set aside for DHA residents. 

No.  Resident share of housing costs will still be calculated based on 30% of household income.  However, there will a change in what housing costs residents are responsible for.  In public housing, residents typically pay rent and are not responsible for utilities.  In the new properties, residents will be required to pay for their own utilities.  

To keep the resident’s total housing costs the same, the resident share of the rent will be reduced by a set ”utility allowance.”  This reduction in the resident share of the rent is expected to offset the cost of utilities- that is, residents will pay less in rent and more in utilities, but the total of these costs should be the same as what they were paying in public housing.

The new housing will be managed by DHA’s development partner, Laurel Street Residential.  Laurel Street’s property management arm will be responsible for the site.