Courthouse Square Troubles

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Yet the company has had trouble filling the building. Under the terms of the tax credits, it can't accept anyone whose income is more than 60 percent of the area's median--yet the rent is too expensive for most people who earn less. (This September, a one-bedroom was advertised at $805, a two-bedroom at $900.)

City council members apparently had been concerned that even the 60 percent limit was too high--they included a clause in the sales agreement allowing the city to subsidize one resident making 50 percent of the median. It turned out they needn't have worried. To find tenants, First Centrum soon tapped a much deeper pool of subsidies: federal "Section 8" vouchers, which supplement the rent of low-income residents.

Eighteen Courthouse Square residents currently get Section 8 assistance. While some live quietly, others do not--and the retirees believe that most of the troublemakers come straight from the Delonis Center. That's apparently an exaggeration--shelter director Ellen Schulmeister says in fact only one resident is directly sponsored by the shelter. However, at least a couple of others previously lived in the old YMCA, and Deb Pippins, administrator of the county's Project Outreach Team, says PORT has helped place several homeless, mentally ill people in Courthouse Square.

While "one or two of our clients have caused some problems," Pippins says, her staff works to minimize any issues.She stresses the need to support formerly homeless people: "If you don't give them services, they just become homeless again."