The first Nashville Metro Supportive Housing project has finally commenced construction in, Tennessee, a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, after a two-and-a-half-year waiting period. The new permanent supportive housing centre is being developed at the site of the former Metro jail on 600 Second Avenue, which has since been demolished over the last few months.
Mayor John Cooper, commended the Nashville Metro Supportive Housing project during the groundbreaking event, stating that he was committed to making Nashville into a housing-first city. Cooper said the project would not only be instrumental in providing a permanent housing solution for those citizens currently at risk of homelessness, but also assist those in need of substance abuse and mental health services.
Metro Nashville is overseeing the construction of the housing project, which is estimated at $25 million and scheduled to open by the fall of 2023. The facility was initially planned to open last December, but the project’s timeline got affected by design changes, which delayed the construction phase. The designs were altered to include green spaces and also cut down the number of available rooms from 112 to 90.
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Features of the Nashville Supportive Housing project
This Nashville Metro Supportive Housing project will bring a 5-story permanent housing facility to the area, consisting of 90 rooms; designed to provide residents with several shared amenities such as laundry facilities, an enclosed bicycle parking space, a multi-purpose venue, and residents will also have access to the green spaces, close to the Cumberland River. There will also be an onsite clinic at the location to provide health supportive services.
Angela Hubbard, the Director of Housing at Metro’s Planning Department, pointed out that this new Nashville Supportive Housing project would get to the root cause of what displaces people from their accommodations or keeps the most vulnerable people from gaining access to available housing. She said the facility wasn’t just the regular temporary housing it would also provide long-term forever supports for the most vulnerable.
The tenant selection process for the Supportive Housing facility will involve the use of vouchers and future residents would have to apply through Metro’s coordinated entry system. Sernorma Mitchell, a director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who was also present at the groundbreaking, mentioned that the Nashville Supportive Housing project would be funded by American Rescue Plan dollars.
