CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Lincoln Homes, a public housing development in the heart of Clarksville, is set to be demolished and rebuilt at triple capacity.
Regional Planning Commission Director Jeffrey Tyndall provided the Central Business Improvement District Committee with an update on the planned rebuild of Lincoln Homes at their Friday meeting.
Built in 1941, Lincoln Homes is Clarksville’s first and oldest public housing development, and is in dire need of an update.
According to Tyndall, the Clarksville Housing Authority is working with Kronberg Urbanists + Architects, based out of Atlanta, and Lyle Cook Martin, a local firm, on plans that would involve zero displacement for Lincoln Homes residents. The project is in the planning stage and does not yet include a timetable.
Former Clarksville Housing commissioner and current vice chair of the Development Authority Steve Stroman said the project will likely include mixed-use development and could be compared in many ways to Cayce Homes in Nashville.
Clarksville Now has reached out to CHA interim Director Dawn Sanders-Garrett.
Lincoln Homes in need of ‘significant updating’
In November 2020, the newly appointed Sanders-Garrett told Clarksville Now that Lincoln Homes is in serious need of updates. Plumbing and drainage systems on the property are particularly in need of rehabilitation.
Sanders-Garrett also noted the size of the 80-plus-year-old homes, saying they are too small and in need of updating. CHA plans for future units to be of a more “moderate” size.
Restructuring the Housing Authority
Plans to update Lincoln Homes were initially announced in November 2020, following CHA’s decision to restructure under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
The goal of restructuring was to make the housing authority less dependent on federal funds and allow them to take part in the private market as a revenue-producing developer.
“This would allow for public housing authorities to go out on the private market and raise private financing and tax credits in order to fund the rehabilitation or new construction of housing,” Sander-Garrett told Clarksville Now at the time.
As of November 2020, 261 unites in Lincoln Homes were included in CHA’s RAD conversion application.
At the time, Sanders-Garrett said CHA’s application could take up to 18 months. According to Stroman, the application was completed around September, but many more steps are required. As part of the ongoing process, leaders plan to hold community meetings for residents to offer input on the future of the Lincoln Homes.
“They approved the RAD, but that’s a small piece of the pie,” Stroman said. “There’s a lot that has to be coordinated before things get moving in Lincoln Homes.”