HATTIESBURG, Miss.,
May 24, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Nearly 68 years to the day after the Beverly Drive-in Theater
opened in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi, the 12-acre site is showing new life: This
time, it's the Village at the Beverly apartments. The 52-unit
complex officially opened today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony
attended by Hattiesburg Mayor
Johnny DuPree, local dignitaries,
and project representatives.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and its member
institution, Hope Credit Union, in
2013 awarded the $9.1 million project
a $500,000 Affordable Housing Program
(AHP) grant that was used for construction. Trustmark National
Bank, also an FHLB Dallas member, provided a construction loan for
the project.
"These affordable apartments have been the collective dream of
many people in our community," said Mayor DuPree. "Today, we
celebrate the hard work and determination of everyone involved as
52 families in need will have a beautiful, inviting place to call
home. Thank you, FHLB Dallas, Hope Credit
Union, and so many others for making this undertaking
possible."
Village at the Beverly, which includes one- to three-bedroom
units, was developed and built by the nonprofit Gulf Coast Housing
Partnership (GCHP) in cooperation with South Mississippi Housing
and Development and the Mississippi Home Corporation. Residents
began moving in earlier this year; occupancy is currently at more
than 85 percent of capacity.
"HOPE believed in and supported this project from the start,"
said Phil Eide, senior vice
president of Community and Economic Development for HOPE, which is
comprised of Hope Credit Union and
Hope Enterprise Corporation. "It's great to see that families are
the focus here. The project demonstrates what is possible when we
all work together."
Community surveys during the project's design phase revealed
that the complex, located at Edwards Street and Old Airport Road in
Hattiesburg, would be most
utilized by families.
The two-screen Beverly Drive-in closed in September 1987 and reopened in 2001 under new
ownership, according to CinemaTreasures.org, a website catalog of
U.S. drive-in movie theaters. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 irreparably
damaged the property, forcing its closure. In 2010, the drive-in
was destroyed by fire.
"This is an historic site," said GCHP President and CEO
Kathy Laborde. "The Beverly opened
May 29, 1948, as the second drive-in
in Mississippi. It is a place that had given joy to families
for decades. We are happy to be able to honor the site with the
Beverly name and know that it will be a part of housing families in
Hattiesburg into the future."
FHLB Dallas annually returns 10 percent of its profits in the
form of AHP grants to the communities served by its member
institutions such as Hope Credit
Union. AHP grants fund a variety of projects, including home
rehabilitation and modifications for low-income, elderly, and
special-needs residents; down payment and closing cost assistance
for qualified first-time homebuyers; and the construction of
low-income, multifamily rental communities and single-family
homes.
In 2015, FHLB Dallas awarded $7.4
million in AHP grants to 32 projects that will result in 965
new or renovated housing units. Mississippi received $1.5 million for the construction or renovation
of 188 units. In 2016, FHLB Dallas is offering $7.6 million in AHP funding. Recipients will be
announced later this year.
"Affordable housing continues to be in high demand across our
five-state footprint," said Greg
Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community
Investment at FHLB Dallas. "Events like today's ribbon-cutting are
terrific accomplishments for the communities served by our
members."
About HOPE
HOPE is a family of development organizations dedicated to
strengthening communities, building assets and improving lives in
the Delta and other economically distressed parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Comprised of a regional credit
union (Hope Credit Union), loan fund
(Hope Enterprise Corporation) and policy center (Hope Policy
Institute), HOPE has provided financial services, leveraged private
and public resources, and shaped policies that have benefited more
than 650,000 residents in one of the nation's most persistently
poor regions.
About Gulf Coast Housing Partnership
GCHP is a mission based real estate development organization
founded in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It focuses on
creating healthy and sustainable housing and commercial
developments in the Gulf South. In the last ten years, GCHP has
created or preserved over 2,000 quality affordable homes in
Louisiana and
Mississippi. GCHP also works with nonprofit partners to
develop facilities that serve to expand their impact while
catalyzing healthy neighborhood development. To learn more visit
www.gchp.net.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the
FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total
assets of $49.5 billion as of
March 31, 2016, is a member-owned
cooperative that supports housing and community development by
providing competitively priced advances and other credit products
to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New
Mexico, and Texas. Visit
fhlb.com for more information.
Contact:
Corporate Communications
Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
www.fhlb.com
(214) 441-8445
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SOURCE Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas