WORCESTER—The Worcester Housing Authority said it has been a proud high performer for several years when it comes to the federal inspections of its properties, according to a press release it issued on Tuesday.
A recent inspection by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of the agency’s largest property, Great Brook Valley Gardens, netted an overall score of 92 out of 100, which, according to WHA, was the highest score for GBV in the past 15 years.
“I can’t express enough how impressed I am by the results of this inspection,” CEO Alex Corrales said in the release. “But this really is the work our team does on a daily basis. They care about our residents and our properties. This shows the level of commitment our agency takes toward each and every person who calls Great Brook Valley their home. I am confident that upcoming inspections at some of our other properties will yield similar results. We take great pride in providing the best possible living conditions for our residents, which of course can be challenging when you’re dealing with an aged housing stock.”
Corrales pointed out in the press release that earning high scores is even more impressive now that inspections are conducted through a newly configured score system.
Inspections were done through HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC). but are now performed according to National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate, or NSPIRE. Under REAC, scores were heavily weighted for exterior property conditions and building systems. Now, more weight is given to interior inspections of units, with an emphasis on resident health, according to the announcement.
“One or two significant issues in one unit could dramatically lower the overall score,” said the release. “The purpose of the inspections essentially remains the same: to ensure that housing authorities and/or landlords are keeping their properties safe and secure and up to HUD standards.”
There are four more inspections of federal properties to be conducted at WHA this year. The results will be reflected in next year’s overall agency Public Housing Assessment System score. If those properties, like GBV, score in the 90s, they will not require an inspection for the next three years. The agency has a total of about 2,400 federally subsidized units, according to WHA, and of them, 535 are at GBV.
“The inspection score was extremely satisfying,” Vice President of Maintenance Greg Christo said in the press release. “It validates the work we do not only on the outside of our properties but on the inside, too.”
In the announcement, Christo said one of the inspectors, who has performed inspections nationally at large cities and small towns, told him GBV was one of the best-maintained and well-kept properties he had seen on a national level, said the announcement.
“That meant a lot to me and my team,” Christo said in the release. “To have someone that has seen every possible property across the nation and compliment ours in that way, really spoke volumes of the staff and the residents for the upkeep of the apartments.”
The announcement states that the result was particularly gratifying in the wake of recent media reports casting a negative light on the WHA and its properties.
In February, the state’s auditor’s office confirmed to Spectrum News that it was looking into claims that involved poor working and living conditions at WHA. Union Local 888 claimed “deplorable conditions” at WHA, with Corrales quickly responding and refuting these claims, telling the Telegram & Gazette, in part, “This is largely based on the attempt by a small union group, SEIU Local 888, at the housing authority, which represents less than 10 employees, to discredit and disparage the good work of the housing authority,”
As a result of recent negative reports, the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities recently toured and inspected random units at WHA, said the announcement.
“Given unfounded recent claims about the way we maintain our properties,” Corrales said in the release. “I certainly hope with the state’s inspection a couple months ago and now this federal inspection of our largest family site, this serves to refute those claims. Our residents do not live in squalor, nothing close to it, and these inspections serve as a reminder to all that the WHA is one of the best-maintained housing authorities in New England.”
