Bay Waveland Housing Authority Rebuilding Initiative
Bay St. Louis and Waveland on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast,
ground zero for Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, were devastated by wind and storm
surge.
Both cities’ housing authorities lost their public housing stock, and the communities were facing financial difficulties after the storm. In 2006, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) decided to consolidate the two into the Bay Waveland Housing Authority.
Five years after the storm, the merged housing authority celebrated the opening of Oak Haven Apartments, a $10.5 million, 80-unit development for seniors in Waveland.
Almost a year later, it opened Bay Pines Apartments, 100 units of family housing in Bay St. Louis. The $18.9 million development includes one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom units.
“We think we’ve enhanced the neighborhood by providing units that blend in with the image of a coastal community that our city projects, while also providing safe and sanitary housing according to HUD guidelines,” says Janine Lee, executive director of the housing authority. “Since start of occupancy, we’ve had about 50% of the former residents come back.”
Both developments have been 100% occupied since opening with waiting lists. “We have exceeded our expectations of both developments,” she adds.
The housing authority closed on financing at the end of July and planned to start construction at the beginning of August on the rebuilding of Camille Court, which was built in Waveland the 1970s after the devastation of Hurricane Camille. It will provide 30 two- and three-bedroom family units. It also hopes to build a 24-unit seniors project in Bay St. Louis in the future.