Housing Authority of Winston-Salem completes building assessment for Crystal Towers

The Winston-Salem Housing Authority has completed an assessment for one of its public housing residences as it looks to renovate the aging building.

Crystal Towers was constructed more than 50 years ago. It's an affordable housing complex serving seniors and disabled individuals. Residents have long called for improvements with two elevators recently being repaired.

Housing Authority of Winston-Salem Executive Director Kevin Cheshire says this is the first time a full-market assessment has been completed.

"The others are just cursory reviews that allow us to spitball the type of capital investment that would be needed to simply repair the existing conditions, whereas this is one that is anticipated to truly improve and modernize the building," he says.

Cheshire says the next step is for options at different price points to be developed for improving Crystal Towers. He says water intrusion was one of the problems the report highlighted as needing to be addressed. 

The completed assessment comes as the building is once again under scrutiny.

Housing advocates and residents presented a petition at a City Council meeting in February alleging ongoing plumbing issues and delayed maintenance requests. The petition also called on the city to assist in renovating the building.

Resident Gwendolyn Hay said at the meeting she just wants to live somewhere clean and decent.

"There's so many various issues that we have, and nobody seems to understand what we're trying to convey," Hay said. "We're not trying to ask for a million dollars, but we need help."

The housing authority provided more than 100 maintenance requests submitted by residents between Dec. 1 and February. All were completed.

Cheshire says he understands residents' discontent with the state of the complex.

"I, like the residents, am really frustrated with the building conditions that we've inherited from previous generations, and I share that frustration that we can't do anything about it yet, but we all know that there's a plan to try to address it with respect to Crystal Towers."

Cheshire is expected to give an update on the building to the City Council on March 17.