The land that formerly contained City Heights, a large public housing complex in Covington, has officially been put on the market.
The Housing Authority of Covington, which currently owns the land, announced Wednesday morning that it was seeking requests for proposals, or RFPs, from developers to buy and develop the land into what it described as a “vibrant, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood” in its official announcement.
“Our mission is to provide housing that people are proud to call ‘home,’ no matter what their income, and this will help us do that,” said Housing Authority Executive Director Steve Arlinghaus in the announcement.
City Heights, originally called Ida Spence Homes, began operating its 366 units in 1953. The land on which it sat spans about 76.5 acres atop a hill between Madison Pike and Highland Avenue.
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 A city press release from October of that year characterized the units as “severely deteriorated, outdated, and beyond saving.” The complex was the largest publicly owned housing project in Northern Kentucky. The complex’s final tenant moved out last April.
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.
“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 household size,” according to a letter penned last year by Arlinghaus. “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.”
The housing authority hopes to select three finalists and ask for more detailed proposals, which should include details like site and building plans and elevation layouts, by October. All of the proceeds from the sale will be reinvested into the housing authority’s other properties, namely Latonia Terrace and Golden Tower, the latter of which serves largely as a form of senior housing.
Specifically, the authority plans to use the money for elevator and leak repair in Golden Tower and upgrades to the windows, bathrooms, kitchens and flooring at Latonia Terrace.
The Housing Authority contracted with Cincinnati-based business Yard and Co. to help market the site and seek public input through neighborhood meetings, community surveys and focus groups. It also sought input from the city.
Due to its hilltop location, City Heights had always “felt like an island,” said Yard and Co. Principal Kevin Wright. As a result, public input emphasized the need for the site to become well-connected into the rest of the city, Wright said, not “just a gated community up there.”
As such, the housing authority said it was seeking developers who could turn the land into a mixed-use area, ideally one that was walkable, with a variety of housing types and commercial spaces. The announcement also stated it was seeking developers who would “preserve as much as possible the unique character of the site, including the surrounding tree canopy, the topography and viewsheds of the Cincinnati skyline and river valleys.”
“It’s an opportunity for a really creative outcome that could showcase the area,” Wright said.
Interested developers can submit proposals at redevelopcityheights.com until July 31.
Read an in-depth story about life in City Heights from 2016 written by former River City News Associate Editor Bryan Burke below.