New Multi Million Dollar Public Housing Unit Opens on the Coast

A new public housing complex on the Gulf Coast is hoping to shatter preconceived notions of what federally subsidized housing is supposed to look like. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new 162 unit McDonnell Avenue apartments in Biloxi couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Biloxi lost almost all of its public housing units during Katrina, and coupled with the poor economy and FEMA housing coming to an end Bobby Hensley executive director of the Biloxi housing authority says there is more need now than before the storm,

“80 of the people who we have signed up here at this location are coming out of FEMA trailers or hotels.”

The 14.3 million dollar complex was funded through the 5.4 billion dollar Federally funded hurricane recovery package, and was designed to blend into the surrounding community with large windows and green spaces. Terry Brooks is in the process of moving into one of the apartments with son,

“When you think of public housing you think of somewhere you know, where it is just an old building and this more or less is up to date and is very attractive. This here does not say public housing, this here says I done moved up a little bit.”

And that’s where the future of public housing is moving says Cassandra Terry with the Department of Housing and Urban Development,

"Public housing is changing. It is not the typical public housing all together units that you could so easily see and identify."

More than 600 new public housing units are expected to be made available on the Coast in the next three months.