8 Projects Get $14.5 Million in HUD Grant : Housing: Dilapidated Jordan Downs already sprouts signs of benefits from the city’s ‘new partnership.’

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday a $14.5-million grant to partially refurbish eight Los Angeles City housing projects, some of which critics charge have turned into slums.

The award to the city Housing Authority, which operates 21 low-income projects largely with federal funds, was announced at a news conference at the Jordan Downs project in Watts--which will receive $3,539,100.

Mayor Tom Bradley, accepted an oversized copy of a check for $14,478,601 from Benjamin F. Bobo, head of the HUD office in Los Angeles. The money will be paid over a three-year period.

Bradley said the grant represents a “new partnership for the renovation and rejuvenation not only of Jordan Downs but of other projects.�

The two stood on a makeshift dais in a parking lot of the shabby, dilapidated project, which is said to be plagued by unemployment problems, gangs and drug abuse.

A carpet of lush green grass, which tenants said had been laid the day before and accented with flowering plants, extended behind them. The paint on fence posts near the area where the news conference was held was not yet dry.

Across the street, however, there were bare patches of earth in front of various two-story project buildings and empty cups and trash on the ground.

The 700-unit Jordan Downs became particularly controversial early this year after housing officials began looking into selling the project to a private developer rather than repair its shattered windows, peeling paint and broken-down plumbing. After widespread protests from several of its 2,700 tenants and some City Council members, the officials decided to seek more money from HUD.

City housing officials have blamed HUD for not providing enough assistance in the past to support the housing projects.

“We’ve been getting a few million each year, nowhere near what was necessary,� Joseph Gelletich, assistant executive director of the Housing Authority, said after the news conference. “We got like $7 million last year and $5 million the year before. So this $14 million was like a bonanza.�

Other sites receiving funds for repairs are Ramona Gardens, Aliso Village and Rose Hills in East Los Angeles, Avalon Gardens and Hacienda Village in South-Central Los Angeles, Dana Strand in Wilmington and Mar Vista in West Los Angeles.

Many of the low-income housing projects, operated by the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles are badly in need of repair. Local officials have blamed the problems on a lack of federal funds.

The federal money will be spent on a variety of fix-up projects ranging from remodeling kitchens and installing new roofs to putting in security doors and new plumbing fixtures.

Bobo added: “I feel residents feel this was a long time coming, and it was indeed a long time in coming.�

Even though the city had sought $15 million for the Jordan Downs renovation alone, city officials and residents seemed pleased with the offering.

“We’re making a start,� said Sharon Johnson, head of the residents’ council and one of about 100 projects residents who watched the ceremony.

Gary Squier, Housing Authority executive director, said no decision had yet been made on how to spend Jordan’s $3.5 million.

“We’re meeting with the tenants to see what their priorities are,� he said later in one apartment undergoing a face-lift with new paint, plumbing fixtures and cabinets. “There’s an issue of rusty water, which would be expensive (to correct). If we do that we won’t be doing as much cosmetics.�

The tenant councils at Jordan Downs, Estrada Court and Nickerson Gardens also received HUD planning grants ranging from $80,000 to $93,000 each, to train residents to eventually manage their own projects. About 72 tenant groups in publicly funded projects have received such grants throughout the United States, HUD spokesman Scott Reed said, but these were the first in Southern California.

BACKGROUND

Many of the low-income housing projects, operated by the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles are in heavy need of repair, and local officials have answered criticism of their management by blaming lack of federal funds. Earlier this year, a storm of protest followed announcement of a plan to sell Jordan Downs, one of the most dilapidated projects.