The last tenant occupying City Heights, a well-known public housing development in Covington, moved out on Monday, ending the 71-year operation of the largest public housing complex in Northern Kentucky.
“Everyone has completely moved out at this point,” said Steve Arlinghaus, the executive director of the Housing Authority of Covington, at the housing authority’s annual public hearing on Wednesday. “Everything went extremely smooth, I think. We’re very very pleased.”
City Heights, originally called Ida Spence Homes, began operating its 366 units in 1953. Federal authorities officially approved closing the complex in 2021. A city press release from October of that year characterized the units as “severely deteriorated, outdated, and beyond saving.”
Our region, according to a housing strategies report released in 2025, lacks sufficient housing for young adults forming their first household; for essential workers like nurses, teachers and first responders; and for older adults. A teacher with a median annual income of $43,740, for example, can afford only 26% of the rental and 16% of the for-sale housing in the region, according to the report. For a restaurant server, only 1% of the region’s rental housing is affordable.
An older person relying on Social Security can also afford only 1% of rental housing in the region, according to the report.
The report, called Home for All: Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies, came to be thanks to more than 90 leaders and experts from across NKY who spent hours studying the region and its urgent housing challenge. Their goal was to close the housing gap across income levels and provide a place for everyone.
Click here to learn more about the shortage and how NKY leaders and community members are stepping in to find solutions.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
Following the federal government’s OK, the housing authority began dispossessing the apartments and relocating the tenants to other subsidized housing throughout the city and region.
Former occupants of City Heights did not attend the hearing on Wednesday.
Arlinghaus read from a letter he’d penned that he plans to send out in a newsletter to housing authority staff and community partners later this month.
“In total, eligible City Heights families received more than $270,000 in financial assistance for their moves through the agency’s relocation process, averaging between $1,100-$1,700 per family based on size household,” the letter reads. “Many families received financial assistance through federal ARPA funds, administered by the City of Covington, to pay for outstanding utility debt. In total, nearly $50,000 in ARPA funds were provided to eligible families.”
Now that the last tenant has moved out, the housing authority will begin selling the property. Any money received in the sale will be reinvested into improving facilities and infrastructure for the remaining housing authority properties, especially Latonia Terrace and Golden Tower. The authority hopes to put the property on the market by late summer or early autumn.
Read an in-depth story about life in City Heights from 2016 written by former River City News Associate Editor Bryan Burke below.
