Federal housing department shifts subsidy dollars from Wahpeton to Fargo

082219.N.FF.HUDTOUR — Local and federal housing officials meet outside a Fargo residence Thursday, Aug. 22. The property is one of about half a dozen in Fargo that will benefit from a shift in federal housing subsidy dollars. Dave Olson/The Forum

By David Olson

August 22, 2019 at 2:11 PM

FARGO — Fargo officials spent much of Thursday, Aug. 22, showing U.S. Housing and Urban Development representatives a number of affordable housing projects around the city.

Many of the properties will be beneficiaries of HUD subsidy dollars that will be shifted from Wahpeton, N.D., to Fargo, according to Rick Lombardi, a HUD official from Denver.

Lombardi said the owner of about 95 housing units in Wahpeton had been receiving about $52,000 a month in subsidy dollars from HUD.

That contract is no longer in place, and Lombardi said instead of putting those dollars back into the federal pool, they will be shifted to Fargo, where about 72 housing units in about seven separate properties will make use of the subsidy dollars.

"They're going to have subsidized units for the next 20 years," Lombardi said.

Some of the properties in Fargo that will share in the subsidy dollars include the Graver Apartments , HomeField Apartments, Church Townhomes and Herald Square.

Nicole Crutchfield, director of planning and development for the city of Fargo, said individuals in Fargo who will be helped by the vouchers are primarily income-restricted people who need assistance paying for housing.

She added that because the vouchers are "place-based," people who may not qualify for transferable vouchers may benefit from renting a unit subsidized by the place-based vouchers being transferred to Fargo from Wahpeton.

At one of the stops officials made in south Fargo Thursday, Kavitha Gundala, a property manager for the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority, said a tenant who had lived in the subsidized housing unit for 13 years was in the process of moving out.

"She (the tenant) was working full time while living here, and she said because of Fargo Housing she was able to save those dollars and buy a house of her own," Kavitha Gundala said.

Gundala said that unit will now become available to someone else looking to achieve the same independence.

"That's very good news," said Evelyn Lim, HUD regional administrator for the region that includes North Dakota.

By David Olson

Dave Olson is a reporter, photographer and occasional videographer. He graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a degree in mass communications, and during his time at The Forum he has covered many beats, from cops and courts to business and education. Currently is writing business stories, but jumps on daily news as needed. He’s also written about UFOs, ghosts, dinosaur bones and the dwarf planet Pluto. You may reach Dave at 701-241-5555, or by email at dolson@forumcomm.com.