TULSA, Okla. — Renovations at the Tulsa Housing Authority’s Pioneer Plaza, an affordable living space for seniors and those with disabilities, have been completed.
“Pioneer Plaza was built in 1969 and it was Tulsa Housing Authority’s first property that was specifically designated for seniors and as with any building that was built several decades ago, it was time for it to be shown some love,” said Ginny Hensley, vice president of communications and public affairs for Tulsa Housing Authority. “We just completed an almost $50 million renovation here that transformed not just the inside, but we were able to make some exterior changes too, add some common spaces. One of the things I love about our senior properties is that the folks there love to hang out together and so this new renovation gave them some beautiful new spaces to do so. They’re able to then have that community and support system right where they live.”
According to Hensley, it’s vital to preserve these buildings providing affordable housing to those in need.
“Specifically for those who are seniors or who have a disability, those vulnerable populations even back then needed that extra support and that need has only grown and we’re continuing to see it growing, which is why this type of preservation that we’ve done here at Pioneer Plaza through these significant renovations is so important. Building new housing is great and much needed, but we also have to preserve and keep around what we have because Tulsa cannot afford to lose even a single unit of affordable housing when we’re experiencing such a deficit.”
While there are many aspects of the renovations able to be seen with the naked eye, Hensley explained the systems people can’t see were also updated.
“Honestly, a lot of the money was spent in updating things you can’t see like the plumbing and different systems that keep this place functioning. The not so fun stuff, but the very important stuff. A lot of money went to that to make sure that this property is able to be used for years to come.”
As the 19 month renovations were taking place, THA did their best to keep the process from affecting the residents’ lives too much.
“Because this building is for seniors and people with disabilities, we wanted to try to minimize disruptions as much as possible and so for this particular renovation, we were able to move existing residents floor by floor. So we would renovate a floor and then move residents that live there to other floors so they were able to stay in the building, which is still disruptive but less disruptive than if they would have to relocate off site.”
The renovations at Pioneer Plaza are just one of the various projects the Tulsa Housing Authority has undertaken in recent years.
“Since 2018, our development, which has included preservation through renovations like this at Pioneer Plaza, has totaled almost half a billion dollars and we are proud of that because Tulsa has a need that’s even greater than that and so we’re proud to be able to play that role of that that lead developer here in Tulsa and also in the state…Looking into the next several years, we’ve got hundreds of millions of dollars that’s going to be invested towards developing new housing.”
To complete these projects, Hensley explained the THA is exploring other options beside federal funding.
“We were able to make these renovations and other renovations at THA properties through a program called Rental Assistance Demonstration, which is through HUD. What that program allows us to do is be less reliant on the federal government to give us capital funds to make these needed renovations and so that has been a strategy we’ve implemented over the last several years and will continue to because that’s going to put us in a better position to not have to be so reliant on federal funding. These types of renovations are the result of the shift over through Rental Assistance Demonstration program.”
Hensley said renovations are currently underway at Seminole Hills and Mohawk Manor.
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