The Houston Housing Authority provides housing and services to tens of thousands of low-income people and families in our city using mostly federal tax dollars. But some people are worried the money meant to pay for improvements to Houston housing developments may not be going where it is supposed to.
KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis is following the money in one project that has residents and taxpayers waiting for answers.
Residents of Cuney Homes, Houston’s oldest public housing development, are voicing frustration over incomplete renovations in their Third Ward neighborhood, despite the project going over budget by more than $120,000.
Larry Grisby, a resident of Cuney Homes for the past eight years, said the long-promised upgrades to the area have yet to materialize.
“Cuney Homes ain’t all that bad. It ain’t all that bad,” Grisby said, but he was expecting improvements that never came.
Promised upgrades left incomplete
The Houston Housing Authority (HHA) had allocated $643,500 for a landscape improvement project to connect Cuney Homes to the Columbia Tap Trail, which included adding benches, a table, and other amenities. However, the agency paid more than $766,000 to contractors for the job—$123,000 over budget—without delivering the promised enhancements.
“They were supposed to come back to add more?” asks reporter Amy Davis.
“Yeah, they were supposed to come back and put the table and another bench,” said Grisby pointing to empty concrete pads with screws attached to nothing. “They never came back. They never said nothing.”
KPRC 2 News obtained renderings of what the project was supposed to look like.
Still, a recent visit to the site shows it remains incomplete, with missing furnishings, including solar lights, benches, and a chess table residents like Grisby were looking forward to.
Who is behind the project?
Elite Project Management, owned by Lemontre Woods, was contracted as the project manager. Woods registered his company with the state just two months before signing a contract with the HHA on March 4, 2024.
Despite KPRC 2′s efforts to reach Woods at his registered business address—an apartment in Humble—he has not responded.
Attempts to get answers from HHA leadership have also raised concerns.
HHA CEO David Northern, who signed the contract, initially dodged questions regarding the project and later admitted in a private meeting that he was unaware it had been left incomplete.
But contracts we’ve obtained show all work was to conclude on or before April 1st. HHA has paid Elite all of the money under its contract and then some. Back at Cuney Homes Grisby is still missing the chess table, solar lights and benches. Documents show Elite project managers asked for another extension until May 7th and an extra $17,500 to order the items that was 5 months ago.
KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis finally got Lemontre Woods on the phone earlier this week. He told Davis he is in contact with someone at the Housing Authority every week, but he wouldn’t say who it is he’s talking to or why the benches, correct lighting and chess table hasn’t been installed months after we paid for them.
City leaders demand accountability
“This is very disturbing,” said Houston City Council At-Large Position 1 representative Julian Ramirez. “To hear that thousands of dollars have been spent on work that wasn’t done, or done poorly, raises a lot of important questions.”
As residents like Larry Grisby continue to wait for the improvements they were promised, the community is left wondering where their tax dollars went and who will be held accountable.
“People say the money... someone took off with the money,” Grisby said. “I talk to a lot of people.”
KPRC 2 Investigates did reach out to the chairman of the Houston Housing Authority Board this week. Chairman Jody Proler told Davis the board has called a special meeting for Wednesday, October 9th where they will go into executive session to discuss personnel matters and the performance of President and CEO David Northern. Proler was appointed by Mayor John Whitmire earlier this year. He said he and the HHA board is committed to transparency and operating ethically and honestly. We will follow up and let you know what happens.
