The Housing Authority of the Birmingham District (HABD) broke ground on Edgehill at Southtown, a $60 million mixed-use redevelopment of their former Southtown Court public housing community in Birmingham’s Southside neighborhood last week.

Meagan Holland, director of public relations for HABD, said that any former Southtown Court residents who wished to return to Edgehill would be able to according to HABD’s current numbers.

She added that HABD staff would continue to make a “deliberate” effort to not displace any current residents during construction of the new development.

As AL.com’s Greg Garrison previously reported, Southtown residents who lived in the community before its demolition were given vouchers for home ownership, rent assistance vouchers and a choice of moving to other apartments owned by HABD.

While Southtown Court previously housed roughly 1,000 people in it’s 445 units, by 2021 only 88 of those units remained occupied according to Garrison.