A Huntsville neighborhood's getting a complete makeover! The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave city leaders $50 million to .
The project will happen in five phases and is expected to get started in late 2025.
The first developments constructed will be a senior living facility and a universal design building for those with disabilities. They will be built on the empty grass area off Governors Drive and Seminole Drive.
Developers say starting with these will make the move quick and easy without having to move residents twice.
Huntsville Hospital also plans to put a primary care clinic on the property. Their president says that will make health care more accessible in the area.
Huntsville's Director of Urban and Economic Development, Shane Davis, says this remodel will help the whole city.
"If you live in and around and adjacent, the ripple effect that it has," Davis said. "All the way back into the downtown, into the Lowe Mill and West Huntsville and even the north and Holmes Avenue."
He says the area around Johnson Towers and Butler Terrace will be completely transformed. It spans 27 acres, that's more than 15 football fields!
Antonio McGinnis with the Huntsville Housing Authority grew up in public housing. He knows having a roof over your head makes all the difference.
"It's a game-changer for all those little kids who come behind me who maybe want to one day sit in this seat," McGinnis explained. "And, having housing is such a basic need."
City leaders say they're hoping to have people start moving into new buildings by 2027.
However, the whole project will take 8 years to finish. The City of Huntsville and Huntsville Housing Authority will submit a final grant report to HUD in 2033. That's nearly a decade away.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awards the City of Huntsville with $50 million check to revamp Mill Creek.
