Evening star., 1953-06-07
Area BFami|y
Housing Needs
To Be Studied
Lund Agency Plans
Door-to-Door
Survey Next Week

The District Redevelopment
Land. Agency next week will be-
gin an intensive door -to-door
survey of the rehousing needs Of
1.345 families slated to be dis
placed in the Southwest WASH
ington redevelopment program.
The study will provide the
basic data needed to find adj
equate homes for present resi-
dents of the 76.6-acre Area B,
bounded roughly by E. I. Fourth
and South Capitol streets.
Rehousing Office to Open.
Other developments affecting
the rehousing problem-prob-
ably the programs biggest head
ache-include:
/. Disclosure by Ralph E. Bush.
the Norfolk builder scheduled to
rebuild Area B. that he actively
is looking for land on which to
build housing for some of the
Area B displaced families.
2. Announcement by RIA that
it has acquired space for a field
office at GIT Fourth street s w.,
directly adjoining Area B.
The field Office, designed to
serve as an information and re-
hosing center, will be opened a
week from tomorrow. The door,
to-door survey will begin that
same day, under direction of a
new seven man relocation"
staff headed by James G. Banks.
Court Ruling Awaited.
Mr.. Banks will begin a week.
long training course for the sur
vey interviewers tomorrow. The
survey is expected to take about
As days.
Within the next few weeks, q
decision is expected from a spe-
cial three-judge tribunal on
court suits challenging consti-
tutionality of the program. The
suits, brought by two Area B
business-property owners, chal-
lenge both legality of the city's
redevelopment law and the use
for which their property is
scheduled to be seized.
These are some of the items
to be covered by the survey:
Size of the family income, size
of housing needed, families de-
SireS as to purchase or rental Of
housing, and conditions and fa-
cllities OF the existing residences.
Properties Being Valued.
Appraisers already are making
detailed estimates of property
values in Area B, as a prelimin-
ary step toward acquisition Of
the properties by RIA. The
agency wants to negotiate with
owners for purchase of as many
as possible before any court ac-
ton to acquire title. Early sales
could throw the rehousing op-
GRAFTON into high gear within
the relatively near future.
RIA officials estimate about
half of the. Area B families will
be eligible for public housing.
For the others. officials for sew
eral weeks have kept listings Of
both vacancies in existing hous-
ing and new construction. The
hstingS include about 1,5OO new
rental units open for. occupancy
between now and December.
Land Sites Visited.
Mr.. Bush indicated to RIA
several weeks ago that he would
be interested in trying to pro-
vide some new housing for the
present residents. He said he
had looked at several land sites
and that I'VE think we might
find something" If he does
construct such housing, it would
be for families with sufficient in
comes to pay for privately built
units at today's building costs.
The RIA at a meeting Wednes-
day, meanwhile, will take action
on two further steps. One will
be to decide on contracts for
title searches of all the Area B
properties. The other will be
to determine how to select a
private property management
firm to manage the Area B units
after RIA acquires title to them.
The management firm would
handle rent collection. property
and other matters
while the properties remain oc-
cupied. The entire. rehousing
job is expected to take about two
tyoorc