Housing authority outlines Dixie Manor repositioning plan, HUD application and tenant protections

The Boca Raton Housing Authority on Monday laid out a multi-step plan to reposition Dixie Manor, an aging public housing site, saying the goal is to replace outdated units with modern, energy-efficient housing while preserving community history and offering tenant protections.

"Repositioning does not change our mission," Ashley Whitby, executive director of the Housing Authority, told the City Council. Whitby said the authority chose HUD's Streamlined Voluntary Conversion (SVC) because it offers tenant-protection vouchers for 100% of families on site and a financially feasible route to rebuild.

Michelle Feigenbaum, a representative of co-developer Atlantic Pacific Companies, told the council the team has secured key financing commitments for phase 1: approximately $18 million in low-income housing tax credits, $24 million in tax-exempt bonds and roughly $7 million in subordinate financing from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. Feigenbaum said the team is working toward a financing closing and start of construction with a target deadline in January 2025.

Under the plan presented, the northern half of the roughly 10-acre site would be redeveloped first. The current site contains 95 units; the initial replacement will provide 95 new units on the northern half, with the…