The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering foreclosure of the Hill Homes housing complex, while discussions continue regarding if the complex can be rebuilt there or elsewhere.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering foreclosure of the Hill Homes housing complex including this condemned unit of Hickory Street, among units severely damaged in a tornado on June 1, 2011. SPRINGFIELD – Residents of Hill Homes continue to wait and wonder about their future more than two years after a tornado partially destroyed a section of the housing complex on Hickory Street.
There is uncertainty due to many of the homes still being condemned and vacant, and due to an ongoing proposal by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for foreclosure.
“We are waiting to see where the foreclosure stands, to see what happens next,” said Marilyn Bryant, president of Hill Homes Housing Cooperative Inc., which owns the housing complex. “Some residents are thinking we are withholding information, but we are not because we don’t have information.”
Hill Homes is owned by the housing cooperative under a HUD mortgage. The housing complex is a scattered, 90-unit, multi-family housing development on two parcels on Hickory and Hancock streets.
Of the 39 units on Hickory Street, 26 were heavily damaged by the June 1, 2011, tornado and were condemned and vacated.
A decision on the foreclosure is pending and expected by early September, said Rhonda Siciliano, a regional spokeswoman for HUD. Meanwhile, an acceptable plan has not been presented regarding redevelopment of the housing units either on site, or at another site, she said.
Springfield College has stated it has an interest in the Hickory Street site located near its campus. There have been discussions of the college buying the site and providing a nearby site for the new Hill Homes units, said Geraldine McCafferty, the city’s housing director.
The housing cooperative cannot use insurance proceeds for demolition, Bryant said.
“Until this foreclosure happens, or whatever happens next, we are still in stuck mode,” Bryant said.
Linda Patton, a resident of Hill Homes on Hancock Street, said residents are concerned about what will happen in a foreclosure.
“There has been a lot of talk and rumors and hearsay,” Patton said. “We, meaning the resident shareholders, need concrete answers because we will all be affected.”
The city has the “right of first refusal” if the property is foreclosed and sold, or the property could go to the highest bidder, Siciliano said.
McCafferty said, in evaluating the right of first refusal, the city “is looking for the best way to ensure this property is redeveloped” and to ensure that the housing units are redeveloped.
The regional office of HUD has recommended foreclosure, by right, based on the conditions of the complex not meeting HUD standards, both before and since the tornado, Siciliano said. There is a seven-year history of failed physical inspection scores, amounting to a technical default of the mortgage, she said.
The property’s 40-year mortgage, through HUD, had a principal balance of $332,436 listed earlier this year and was scheduled to be paid off in 2015, officials said.
Some local officials, including state Rep. Benjamin Swan and City Councilor Bud L. Williams, have met with residents to discuss their concerns and said they will confer with local, state and federal officials to help the residents with a permanent solution.