A street of 16 affordable houses officially opened Monday, transforming a blighted area into a neighborhood, said Austin Simms, executive director of Lexington's public housing authority.
Rain Garden Way, off Georgetown Street, was developed through a cooperative effort. The city donated the 3.1 acres of land, and with a federal grant it built the street and other infrastructure for the project. The housing authority, the Urban League, several churches and Habitat for Humanity also contributed to the project.
The $2 million project includes the first city street that incorporates environmentally friendly permeable pavers and a rain garden. The pavers and rain garden were made part of the streetscape to reduce storm-water runoff and eliminate the need for a large storm-water retention basin.
Three houses have been finished, sold and are occupied. Construction is under way on most of the other 13 lots.
Simms said he expects all the houses, priced at $117,000 to $126,000, to be completed within the next few months.
To keep the neighborhood "stereotype-free," that is, not looking like housing for low-income families, "no two houses look alike," Simms said.
On hand for Monday's ribbon-cutting was Sandra Henriquez, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Henriquez was making her first trip ever to Kentucky.
