By Kaitlin Fleming, Staff Correspondent
On Thursday, September 6, the Greater Gadsden Housing Authority held an open house for newly renovated units at Colley Homes in Gadsden.
The renovated units, which were built in 1951 and previously renovated in the 1980s, are part of the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) affordable public housing program.
Greg Price, Executive Director of the Greater Gadsden Housing Authority, said that the renovations are dependent on funding from HUD.
“We’re doing a little at a time with the funding we have,” said Price.
The current renovations are phase three of a four-phase project. Phases one and two were completed in 2015, where 32 housing units were remodeled. Phase three includes 32 units and the projects are ongoing. Phase four will consists of 20 more units being remodeled but the dates for those units to be completed have not yet been determined.
The renovations made in the previous phases were extensive, including new electrical, plumbing, HVAC units, duct work, flooring, walls, appliances, toilets, sinks, tubs and new doors.
Phase three includes all of the same work that was completed in phases one and two but several more modern and energy efficient finishes and products were used in phase three, such as LED lighting, luxury vinyl tile, replacing paneling with sheetrock, ceramic tile tub surrounds, replacement of lay-in ceiling tile with sheetrock and all brand new black appliances.
“We tried to do most of the renovations ourselves,” said Price. “By doing a lot of it ourselves, we saved a lot money. We’re really proud of this work. It looks great.”
Price said that by completing most of the work in house, the housing authority was looking at estimated total savings of approximately 25 – 30 percent compared to the cost of phases one and two that were completed by a general contractor.
The units that were completed this past week have already been rented out. The occupancy generally runs at about 97-98 percent, and Price said that most of the renovated units would be rented to current residents that relocated for the renovations, but some units will be available to new applicants.
For more information about Colley Homes or other low-income housing in the Gadsden area, contact Greater Gadsden Housing Authority at 256-547-2501.
