It’s been over three months since Mayor Avula and RRHA struck a deal to work together on redeveloping Gilpin Court, the city’s largest public housing complex.
Why it matters: Officials hailed it as a move that put residents first. Residents say they’re still waiting to see what’s actually changed.
State of play: In a statement last week, the resident-led Gilpin Informed Residents group called for “immediate accountability” on the standards Avula set for the project last fall, saying they haven’t been met.
- The group wants those promises in writing and an immediate pause on evictions until that happens.
- Their conditions include a tenants’ bill of rights, resident-involved oversight committee and guaranteed one-for-one, on-site replacement of all 781 Gilpin units.
The latest: The city and the public housing authority haven’t signed off on the agreements needed to make the plan legally binding, city spokesperson Ross Catrow confirmed.
- But Catrow told Axios that they expect to introduce it to City Council “in the coming weeks,” where it’ll later be up for public comment.
- RRHA (the public housing authority) and the tenants group didn’t respond to Axios’ requests for comment.
What they’re saying: “This is not just a public housing issue,” the group wrote, warning that displacement “creates a ripple effect of housing instability” that affects Richmond’s schools, workforce and social fabric…