HOUSTON, Texas – The $146 million affordable housing project that was halted by Mayor John Whitmire and his administration over safety concerns in 2024 is now accepting applications.
On Thursday morning, the Houston Housing Authority President and Mayor John Whitmire announced that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave full clearance to move residents into The Pointe at Bayou Bend.
“800 Middle known as The Point at Bayou Bend will open for lease and occupancy,” said HHA President and CEO Jamie Bryant.
The Pointe at Bayou Bend was completed in 2024, but in July 2024, Mayor John Whitmire intervened and instructed the Housing Authority to stop plans to move tenants into the complex until regulators could investigate safety concerns because of the property’s history.
Bryant told 2 Investigates HHA worked with TCEQ over the last 12 to 14 months to address those safety concerns.
“Houston has an industrial past. Not everything in this city is clean and pretty. But that doesn’t mean there are not viable paths forward. We are not denying the fact that there were issues,” said Bryant.
HHA owns two properties adjacent to 800 Middle Street, where the new apartment complex sits. While HHA crews were digging at a neighboring property for underground utilities to service the apartment complex, they disturbed and failed to contain contaminated ash in the soil. TCEQ has fined HHA $175,000 for this violation. Bryant said they have since capped the soil and will not develop that property.
Bryant said while no ash was found on The Pointe at Bayou Bend property, TCEQ tests did find elevated levels of lead in one area about 15 feet under a parking lot area. HHA capped the area. Bryant said they had to get a deed restriction for this area that means no one can dig there without first alerting TCEQ and getting approval.
“This is the priority and the guarantee that we are doing things right,” said Mayor John Whitmire. “Today we are talking about people who will soon be occupying this.”
The complex has 398 apartments up for grabs, but HHA says former residents of Clayton Homes will get first dibs on the apartments because they were forced to move in 2023 when TxDOT needed the Clayton Homes property to widen I-45.
The HHA property neighboring The Pointe at Bayou Bend is fenced off. Bryant said HHA will not develop anything in that area until they work with the community and decide what to do with it.
Affordable Housing Expensive for Taxpayers
The 800 Middle Street project is also criticized for how much former HHA leaders paid for the property. HHA purchased the property in 2020 for $54 million, far more than it appraised for. After construction costs, the total price tag was $146 million. That means that each of the 398 apartments cost taxpayers more than $366,000.
“We inherited this,” Bryant told the crowd gathered at The Pointe at Bayou Bend. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re responsible for this.”
When 2 Investigates asked Bryant about the hefty cost of the complex, he said “The land price was something of a discussion back in the day. I can’t opine why this agency and the prior leadership agreed to pay what they did for it.”
2 Investigates has reached out to former HHA board chairman LaRence Snowden who brokered the deal. He has never returned any calls or emails to answer questions about decisions he made while at the helm of HHA. Snowden was appointed by former Mayor Sylvester Turner.
For more information on housing with the Houston Housing Authority check here.