Cincinnati's housing authority wants city officials to spend $15.4 million to raze and rebuild the English Woods public housing complex.

        The payoff for Cincinnati, where officials are desperate to improve home ownership rates: bringing 400 owner-occupied homes to one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

        The housing authority wants the city to purchase the 86-acre site for $10 million and pay an additional $5.4 million for a park, retail shops, street improvements and mortgage assistance for low-income buyers.

        “I know it is a lot of money,” said city Councilman Jim Tarbell. “I don't know how realistic it is yet.”

        Councilman Pat DeWine said it's to early to tell whether the English Woods project is worth such a large investment from the city.

        The bulk of funding for the $80 million-plus project would come from the housing authority, private developers and the federal government's Hope VI program.

        The English Woods proposal is the same type of project the housing authority is completing in West End, where 250 new homes and 965 apartments will replace the Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes complexes.

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