This photo essay explores the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversion of an apartment complex in El Paso, Texas. It features residents' stories of what it is like to live in properties that convert under RAD. RAD is a cost-neutral project of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, managed within the Office of Recapitalization in the Office of Multifamily Housing, that leverages public and private debt and equity to reinvest in public housing.
The Housing Authority of the City of El Paso (HACEP) intends to convert 100% of its public housing properties through RAD. The properties are bundled into groups, which significantly reduces transactional costs.
The 260-unit Dwight D. Eisenhower Apartments were part of the first group to be converted and renovated. The renovations to all units included new flooring, HVAC systems, finishes, doors, fixtures, appliances, and other upgrades. Site work included new concrete pavement, fencing, and landscaping. The community was significantly beautified and enhanced by two new playgrounds with a canopy, bike racks, a horseshoe pit, barbecue grills, picnic tables, and outdoor seating.
We met with three residents of Eisenhower Apartments— Jennifer W., Irene R., and Mercedes I.—and Raul T., a resident of Kennedy Estates (another nearby completed RAD project), to hear about their experiences.
The common theme in these stories is that the RAD conversion and the reinvestment in their communities helped each resident's rental unit feel more like a home.
What Is RAD?
The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is administered by the Office of Recapitalization in the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs at HUD. Authorized in 2011, RAD allows public housing agencies and owners of other HUD-assisted properties to convert units from their original sources of funding to long-term project-based Section 8 contracts. These new contracts provide a more reliable source of operating subsidy that enables property owners to leverage private and public capital, such as debt and equity, to finance new construction and/or rehabilitation of rental housing. For residents, RAD offers enhanced protections and rights as they benefit from consultation prior to conversion, have the right to return after any construction, and maintain ongoing rights guaranteeing the affordability of the housing.