Halyard Bend gets new life in Myrtle Beach

Tedra Gore moved into Halyard Bend about four years ago. She was pregnant and sick and didn't have much of a choice of where to live. Now, after the Housing Authority of Myrtle Beach bought and rehabilitated the property, she says she is proud to call it home.

"From what it was four years ago to when I first moved out here to now it looks like a whole other place," she said. "There's a lot of people out here that appreciate it and it makes you feel so good that somebody says you're deserving of having a better living situation."

Residents said they were grateful for all the work that was put into transforming the previously run-down complex, where some units had missing cabinets, leaky pipes and management just patched up problems. The construction on the 48-unit affordable housing complex on Halyard Way, just off Forestbrook Road in Horry County, was completed this week.

The Housing Authority of Myrtle Beach, which helps low income residents in the greater Myrtle Beach area find housing by developing more housing and offering subsidies, bought the property in 2009 when the previous owner wanted to sell the complex and change it into condominiums. The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development program, which had loaned money for the project, required that public agencies or nonprofits have a chance to bid before private investors could do away with the affordable housing, so the housing authority stepped in.

"The big thing is we were able to preserve this as 48 units of affordable housing," said Sharon Forrest, the executive director of the Housing Authority of Myrtle Beach. "It's extremely important. I don't see the demand [for affordable housing] decreasing. I see it increasing."

The agency has more than 1,000 applicants on a Section 8 housing assistance waiting list. The last time the wait list was opened, for two days last September, 1,200 residents applied and 80 percent of them were classified as extremely low income.

The purchase and rehabilitation cost about $3.4 million, with the funding coming from USDA Rural Development, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta through RBC Bank, Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments HOME Consortium, S.C. Department of Mental Health, and the Horry County Government Community Development Department Community CDBG program. The Grand Strand Housing Authority was also a partner.

Amy Lowe, the regional coordinator of the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments, said it was a great example of regional and local solutions to make projects work.

At first, the group was hesitant to fund the project because of the challenge of relocating residents and coordinating with so many partners, she said.

"[But] we said this is worth doing because there was this property that would have been market rate and people would have lost their homes," Lowe said.

Most USDA Rural Development-funded projects have a few partners, because the agency can't provide 100 percent funding, but there has never been six working on one project of this type, said Larry Floyd, the multi-family housing program director for USDA Rural Development.

"Probably we'll see multiple funding partners more in the future than now because of the financial constraints," he said.

USDA Rural Housing provides subsidies and oversees properties across the state, including between 600 and 700 properties in Horry County. About 96.5 percent of those properties are occupied, which is high compared to the national average, Floyd said.

"That's a huge indicator of a need and a huge demand for affordable housing," he said.

The USDA offers subsidized rental rates for all of the apartments at Halyard Bend. The subsidies vary based on the resident's income.

Without those subsidies, some residents said they wouldn't be able to pay rent. They also said that the new management that has come in has made a difference.

"With the new management things get done," resident Judy Shields said. "It means a lot. Me, myself, I take pride in what they did."

The renovation has not only given residents a decent and affordable place to live though, said resident Dorothy Deas.

"My personal feeling has really enhanced itself," she said.

Gore, who was very sick a few years ago and nearly died, said that having a comfortable place to call home helped her get better and get back on her feet.

"When I got sick I couldn't pay rent. It was a huge weight off my shoulders because I could get assistance," she said.

Gore is working now and said she wants to be on her own, not needing assistance to provide for her and her 3-year-old son. In a year or two, she aims to be able to move to a house she can afford on her own, though she said she'll be a bit sad to leave the place she now calls home.

"This is helping me to build a better future for me and my son," she said. "It might be where I'll have more than somebody else and I'll be able to help them because somebody helped me."