Huntsville’s vision to replace distressed public housing with a mixed-use development got a $50 million boost Wednesday with the announcement the city is one of seven awardees of a competitive federal housing grant.
The award, city officials said, wraps a five-year effort to secure complete funding for the Mill Creek redevelopment. The $50 million is the full amount the city had sought from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation program, intended to combine mixed-income housing developments with comprehensive social services and physical neighborhood improvements.
The 27-acre Mill Creek project will replace the Butler Terrace and Johnson Towers units off Governors Drive in West Huntsville with a blend of public and private, market-rate housing, along with workforce housing for Huntsville Hospital staff, parks, commercial space and other amenities. Current public housing residents will be the first to move into the newly constructed public units.