TUCSON — Residents have begun moving into newly renovated units on the 15th floor of Tucson House, the first major milestone in a $50 million renovation of the city’s largest public housing complex, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
The 17-story high-rise at 1501 N. Oracle Road is about 15% complete with its floor-by-floor renovation, according to Gorman & Company, the city’s contracted developer. Each unit gets its own air conditioner to replace the building’s long-outdated chiller system, plus more storage and counter space requested by residents.
“Systems were starting to fail,” said Ann Chanecka, Tucson’s housing and community development director.
The building will drop from 408 to 358 units as studios are combined into one-bedroom apartments. The work is funded by a $50 million federal Choice Neighborhoods grant awarded in 2023 for the 85705 ZIP code. Work on the 16th, 14th and 13th floors continues, with full completion estimated in 2029.
The city closed its public housing waitlist earlier this year, citing demand from more than 40,000 people.
Sources: Arizona Daily Star. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Cactus4u / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
