SAHA takes no action on Mirasol settlement
The San Antonio Housing Authority's board of commissioners postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to accept a settlement offer from KB Home, which would have ended a year-old lawsuit over the agency's troubled Mirasol Homes development...SAHA has budgeted $4 million to repair 246 homes and expects to spend roughly $3.5 million on a buyback program that allows Mirasol homeowners to sell their houses to SAHA and retain their first-time homebuyer status...Homeowners and tenants still attend SAHA board meetings to complain about the quality of repairs in their houses.

SAHA takes no action on Mirasol settlement
04/23/2008
Josh Baugh
Express-News

The San Antonio Housing Authority's board of commissioners postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to accept a settlement offer from KB Home, which would have ended a year-old lawsuit over the agency's troubled Mirasol Homes development.

A decision to seek further information from the builder came late Tuesday after hours of closed-session deliberation by the board.

"We discussed thoroughly the issues related to the potential of settling the lawsuit that the housing authority has against Magi Realty and its subcontractor, KB Home," board Chairman Ramiro Cavazos said. "We need further information. We did not reach a consensus."

KB Home officials could not be reached for comment.

After nearly seven hours in closed session, the board convened for less than five minutes to report it was making no decisions.

Cavazos said after the meeting that the board would seek to clarify the undisclosed settlement offer and hopes to reach an agreement, possibly as early as the board's May meeting.

Last year, SAHA filed a lawsuit against Magi Realty, the developer on the project, and KB Home, which built the West Side neighborhood. The original lawsuit sought to recover $10,000 in funds SAHA claimed it accidentally overpaid Magi, along with access to contracts and other documents between Magi and its subcontractors.

In the 1990s, the authority received $48.3 million in HOPE VI funds from the Housing and Urban Development Department, more than $20 million of which was spent on the 247 single-family homes in the project. One house has since burned down.

KB Home has never revealed its profit on the project.

SAHA has budgeted $4 million to repair 246 homes and expects to spend roughly $3.5 million on a buyback program that allows Mirasol homeowners to sell their houses to SAHA and retain their first-time homebuyer status.

Even with the approval of the settlement, SAHA is fighting a losing battle within Mirasol, where residents are largely unhappy with their homes. The Mirasol Task Force, led by former home builder Gordon Hartman, is moving at a steady clip and plans to have every home fixed by summer's end.

Homeowners and tenants still attend SAHA board meetings to complain about the quality of repairs in their houses.

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