JaBraun and Courtney were in the home stretch. He'd be home soon, in a few weeks. Instead, they called her out of class and sent her home to find two soldiers in their Class A uniforms.FORT WAYNE – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has suspended plans for the construction of permanent housing in Fort Wayne for homeless military veterans.
A local VA official said Tuesday that the department’s authority to lease land or buildings to public, private and non-profit groups expired Dec. 31 and has not been reauthorized by Congress.
“Mission-driven” lease projects on vacant or underused VA property in Fort Wayne, Marion and 15 other cities across the nation have been put on hold pending action by Congress, according to Jennifer Baran-Prall, public affairs officer for the VA Northern Indiana Health System.
Most of the projects are housing for homeless veterans and their families.
VA officials in Washington, D.C., did not respond Tuesday to questions emailed by The Journal Gazette.
Last year, the department invited potential developers to submit proposals to design, finance, build and maintain housing for homeless veterans on 4.4 acres of vacant land at the VA Medical Center at Lake Avenue and Randallia Drive. The homeless veterans population in Fort Wayne has been estimated at 400.
The department had expected to select a housing proposal by Jan. 15. Under VA’s enhanced-use lease authority, enacted by Congress in 1991, property leases could run as long as 75 years.
If Congress reauthorizes VA’s authority, projects “that have not yet been finalized and executed will be reassessed, and EUL activities may resume,” Baran-Prall wrote Tuesday in an email that quoted a “fact sheet” on the program.
Baran-Prall said in December that because the Fort Wayne proposals are “procurement-sensitive” information, the identities of prospective developers and the details of their plans would not be disclosed.
Other cities where enhanced-use lease projects have been suspended include New York, Dallas, Milwaukee and Long Beach, Calif.
“Please be assured that this does not affect the new Fort Wayne Outpatient Clinic lease,” Baran-Prall said.
Last year, Congress approved VA appropriations that include $2.85 million for the construction and lease of a Fort Wayne mental health clinic for veterans.
A site has not been selected for the 27,000-square-foot clinic, scheduled for completion in 2015. Plans call for a private developer to design and build a $1.49 million clinic, which VA would rent for at least $1.36 million a year for 20 years.
