Housing authority set to renovate Oak Towers

The Columbia Housing Authority is looking toward renovating 147 low-income housing apartments in the Oak Towers building this coming fall.

“We’re really serving the poorest of the poor in our community. It’s based on their ability to pay. If they have no income, they don’t pay any rent,” Phil Steinhaus, with Columbia Housing Authority, said.

The Columbia Housing Authority will submit the project package, which includes the financing and bid documents, to the Missouri Housing Development Commission by next Friday.

Housing authority administrators said they received fair priced bids and are confident they will have the funds to complete the list of planned renovations to Oak Towers. The renovation project is expected to cost just over $15 million.

Administrators said construction crews are also renovating 19 low-income apartment buildings between Lincoln and Unity in central Columbia.

Residents in the area said the building renovations are a much-needed improvement to the neighborhood.

“We’ve already seen some changes and improvements in those neighborhoods as a result of other investments there, so we think it’s a great investment in there, so we think it’s a great investment in the community,” Steinhaus said.

Housing Authority administrators said by the end of 2017, they plan to have 509 low-income home renovations completed.