Vouchers ease ‘headache’ of move

Concerned low-income residents of the downtown Commercial Building questioned local housing authority officials Friday afternoon about their imminent move from single-room units to private, government-subsidized apartments.

Relocating to make way for a Blu-ray disc plant might offer tenants, many of whom suffer from mental and medical disabilities and chemical dependency, a chance to upgrade their housing, officials said.

But residents said most of the 45 affected tenants lack transportation, jobs and furniture, and many rely on walking to social and medical services downtown.

“That’s going to be a headache, but I’m really thankful for this voucher,” said resident Garry Campbell, 54. Federal vouchers will help residents pay for one-bedroom apartments.

Low-income housing experts also indicated Friday that the Commercial relocation efforts might be the first sign of a growing trend. More downtown complexes are slated for development, said Cindy Algeo, director of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium.

“It’s certainly common knowledge among non-profit housing developers that there will be like 200 people now, or very, very soon looking for places to live,” she said.

“This is really serious, and there’s a possibility of a couple of other complexes closing not located in downtown. But potentially, we could be looking at 400 units in the next several months,” Algeo said.

Algeo declined to elaborate on specific buildings. But Downtown Spokane Partnership President Marty Dickinson said the Commercial Building situation has spurred a meeting next week at City Hall regarding another developer’s plans that may displace low-income residents.

“The Commercial building has brought some of this to the forefront, and we thought it would be a good time to continue the dialogue,” said Dickinson, who also attended Friday’s meeting at the Commercial, located at 1115 W. First Ave.

Valencia-Calif.-based BlueRay Technologies Inc. recently bought the Commercial with plans to construct a $12 million Blu-ray disc plant. Company representatives have said BlueRay initially considered letting residents stay in the four-story building’s upper floors.

Company representatives have said the plant could bring 10-150 jobs.

Businesses often build new structures and are not used to dealing with the human element present in the Commercial’s case, said Housing Services Executive Director Steve Cervantes.

Commercial residents who qualify for vouchers may begin looking for apartments after June 1, when they will attend another briefing with workers from Housing Solutions, which is coordinating local agencies to relocate the tenants.

Vouchers will be issued for 90 days.

To qualify, residents must show they live in the country legally and don’t have felony criminal convictions, said John Meyers, regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will supply the vouchers.

HUD mobilized in record time to authorize the vouchers, which typically require a year’s preparation, he said.

“In six years, I haven’t seen anything like this before,” he said.

The Commercial tenant population is “pretty fragile,” Meyers said, and finding them places to move – even with vouchers – may not be easy.

Yet Meyers said local agencies have “come through like troupers.”

“The whole community seems to have come together and put their shoulders together,” he said.

Cervantes told residents he didn’t have all the answers and that neither his organization nor BlueRay are the “bad guys.” Residents remained in the dark about moving plans for weeks because the building’s previous owners denied access to Housing Solutions, he said.

The former owner, Otis Associates Limited Partnership, lost the building as collateral on another project that went bankrupt.

A plainclothes police officer stood inside the building’s entrance prior to the crowded meeting on the Commercial’s second floor.

Tenants asked sometimes-heated questions about to whom they should pay rent and how relocation would work.

Just three people in the building have vehicles, and Campbell doesn’t have a telephone or a bus pass.

“We don’t have furnishings,” said Campbell, who previously lived on the street. “All I’ve got is hangers.”

Even if tenants’ new apartments are better, they may lose a sense of community found at the Commercial, said Dan Jordan, director of community services for Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs.