The Aiken Housing Authority is moving to demolish Hahn Village, a public housing development just outside of the downtown area.
Reggie Barner, the housing authority's CEO, made the announcement during a Monday night City Council work session.
"I wanted to make sure Council knew about it," Barner said. "We don't mind it becoming public, we just wanted Council to know."
Barner said demolishing the sprawling complex and starting over is far cheaper than completing all necessary, retroactive repairs.
Hahn Village "never should have been built the way it was," Barner said. Hahn Village went into service in 1979.
Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon, right, and Aiken City Council member Andrea Gregory at the Monday night City Council work session.
Barner said at the time of construction, air conditioning was considered a public housing luxury – even in the South.
The potential demolition would raze 100 units of public housing, affecting approximately 250 people, according to an Aiken Housing Authority estimate.
Public housing is housing provided for people with low incomes. It is subsidized by public funds. There are 1.2 million households across the nation categorized as public housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Those initially displaced would be found housing in other local areas, a process financed with assistance from HUD, according to Barner.
The Aiken Housing Authority currently does not own enough units to house the 250 people. Barner said the organization will be working with private and local developers for that very reason.
City Council member Lessie Price, who represents the district in which Hahn Village is located, said the residents do not have to worry about going homeless: "There is an outlet. There is no reason to panic."
Price – who said Barner gave her a "glimpse of what was to come" a little while ago – said the nature of public housing ensures people are not "thrown out" without "a place to go."
"These folks will find housing to live in," she added.
The Aiken Housing Authority has approximately 244 families living in public housing – more than 500 individuals, according to the organization's website.
The Aiken Housing Authority operates seven developments in Aiken County: Stoney-Gallman Townhomes, Bradby Homes, Hahn Village, New Hope I, New Hope II, Villa Oaks and Crosland Park.
Hahn Village is the single largest complex in the housing authority's portfolio.
Aiken City Council's March 12 work session meeting agenda and related documents.
Barner said some Hahn Village residents are already aware of the plans. A public hearing regarding the prospective demolition will be held in the next 40 days, he said.
An application to demolish Hahn Village will be submitted to HUD – headed up by former presidential candidate Ben Carson – in about 60 days. Nothing will happen until then.
Barner said the Aiken Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will vote on the proposal, and he is confident the commissioners will formally support the plan.
HUD will then either approve or deny the application. That could take upward of 120 days, Barner said.
If given the OK, the gears will really start turning, he continued.
Barner attributed the demolition idea – at least partly – to reduced federal funding. President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2019 budget request, titled "An American Budget," slashes HUD funding by nearly $9 billion.
"This is not Democrat or Republican," Barner said of the overarching situation. "This is reality."
Barner wants to work with the City to find a higher and better use for the approximate 17 acres Hahn Village currently sits on.
Price said that use is still to be determined.
An Graniteville man is in custody after local police responded to a reported standoff at an apartment complex in Aiken.
Both Barner and Price agreed that moving out of and away from Hahn Village and into different areas – less distinct and less stigmatized areas, Price specifically said – will do wonders for the residents.
“We want to scatter these units,” Barner said, describing it as a more viable “de-concentration of poverty.”
"This makes me feel good that there is an attempt to make some changes," Price said to Barner during his pitch. "Otherwise we keep doing, seeing the same numbers, the same stats."
In November 2017, Hahn Village was the site of an armed standoff. Police went to Hahn Village to serve felony-level warrants to Graniteville man Anthony Glover Dixon.
Also in November 2017, the complex was the site of a double homicide: A 26-year-old and a 28-year-old were shot dead while parked on Bradby Lane in Hahn Village. No suspects have been named.
