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Housing Authority gets nod to move forward with BTW demolition [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer](Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 24--The Housing Authority of Columbus board of directors has given Authority Executive Director Len Williams the nod to begin the process that will result in the demolition of the Booker T. Washington Apartments. Ultimately, the 392-unit complex will be razed, in three phases, and replaced with a 100-unit senior facility on the site of the former Chapman Homes and another approximately 100 units on the northern end of the BTW site. The southern end of the property will likely be developed commercially, Williams said. Residents who are displaced by the project will be given Section 8 housing vouchers, Williams said. The project will proceed in several phases, according to a report presented to the board Wednesday morning. Phase I includes the demolition of Chapman Homes, which has been completed, and the construction of the senior apartment building on the Chapman site, is set to begin next month and end by November of 2015. The overall budget for Phase I is about $15.6 million, with about $10.5 of that being construction costs. Phase II will include the demolition of the northern half of the BTW complex. That is scheduled to begin in late 2014 or early 2015 and should be complete by August of 2015. Bids for building the new BTW complex will go out in June 2015. Construction is expected to be completed by November of 2016. Phase III will be the demolition and stabilization of the remaining southern end of the complex. With its frontage on Victory Drive and Veterans Parkway, that property will likely be developed commercially, Williams said. Williams said the Housing Authority is already passively emptying BTW by not putting new residents into apartments whenever a resident leaves. Fifty-six of the units are currently unoccupied, he said. ___ (c)2014 the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) Visit the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) at www.ledger-enquirer.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |