The demolition of the Southtown Court housing project along University Boulevard in Birmingham is expected to begin in late summer or fall 2020, officials with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District said during a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon.

Current residents of Southtown will be relocated to new housing beginning in May 2020

“Your best interest is in our hearts. We won’t do anything until we have a conversation,” President and CEO of HABD Michael Lundy told residents. Residents packed out the gymnasium at Southtown Court for Thursday’s meeting.

For years, HABD has been planning a massive redevelopment of the 445-unit housing project that’s home to approximately 1,000 people. The 26-acre property has an estimated value of $26 million.

The Southside Development Company pitched a mixed-use and mixed-income development, meaning the housing would be a combination of subsidized public housing units and units leased at market rate. Initial ideas in the redevelopment plan included a senior center, office and medical space, a green space, and retail stores.

Residents will have several choices for relocating, Lundy said. They will be able to permanently relocate to a new housing community, request a Section 8 housing voucher, join the HABD home ownership program and buy a home or they can choose to temporarily move to another community and then move back to Southtown once new housing is built.

Based on the latest assessment of the current residents, Lundy said around 200 families say they want to move back in to Southtown once it is complete. Assessments of residents will continue in the coming months.

HABD will also provide moving boxes and pay for movers to help families to their new permanent or temporary housing. Residents will get a 90-day notice before relocation begins.

Residents will not have to reapply for housing or Section 8 vouchers. Officials say residents’ preferred housing relocation options will be handled through the assessment process. A case worker will be assigned to each family to ensure the transition and relocation goes smoothly.

Part of that smooth transition includes keeping families with children in the same school zoning areas, he said.

“We’re very sensitive to families and the disruption of families,” Lundy said.

HABD plans to submit its demolition application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this summer. It should take around 90 days for HABD to get HUD’s approval to demolish the site.

As families are being relocated next summer, HABD will work to have the 26-acre site rezoned as a mixed-use site. Then, in August or September 2020, demolition of the units will begin.

The entire redevelopment project, including housing units, stores and a grocery store, is expected to be complete by 2024.

This is a CONCEPTUAL drawing of what the new Southtown development will look like once complete. pic.twitter.com/IPsGzyfxxa — Anna Beahm (@_AnnaBeahm) May 2, 2019

A conceptual drawing of the redeveloped site was displayed at the meeting, but concrete plans for the site, including the number of affordable housing, senior housing and market rate housing units, has not been finalized, said Carol Clarke, general manager of Southside Development Company.

Lundy said those numbers will be based on data collected during resident assessment over the next several months.

In 2017, five residents of Southtown Court sued HABD over the redevelopment plants. However, that lawsuit was dismissed in January 2018.

Residents with concerns or comments about relocation or demolition can send email to Cory Stallworth at cstallworth@habd.net. Stallworth is the vice president of Real Estate Development for HABD. Residents can also send comments by mail to 1826 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233.