News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Highlands Residential Services will begin the relocation process for residents of the Claude Darwin apartment complex.
Executive Director Dow Harris said he wants to start meeting with residents about the transition to the Hickory Valley complex this week.
“So what do we do with 48 apartments, and we got 59?” Harris said. “We got to take care of all of those residents and come up with a relocation plan that is acceptable to everybody.”
Harris said the majority of residents will relocate to Hickory Valley once it is complete. Director of Operations Chris Cassetty said the 11 remaining residents will have other opportunities for housing.
“Because Hickory Valley is a tax credited development, and there are some rules that are a little different,” Cassetty said. “We might actually have some people living at Claude Darwin right now that wouldn’t be eligible to live at Hickory Valley. We need to know that now, so we can continue to help them. There is a lot of pieces that we have to move before we ever get to the point that we actually put a for sale sign on Claude Darwin.”
Harris said the decision had to be made for the some $3 million dollar hit in moving to a new rental assistance program.
“We got to start that now,” Harris said. “The recertification process for the transition of units in Cookeville we are going to start that in May. We are going to start next month doing recertifications for the RAD transition and those are only good for six months, so we don’t want to go back and have to do those again.”
Harris said the 11 missing units will be added back on future projects such as Magnolia Ridge. The 11 and a half acres of Claude Darwin between Boatman and Darwin Streets is estimated to be worth about $1.6 million. Hickory Valley is set to be completed in 2022.
