Wilmington Housing Authority

Wilmington Housing Authority, a city-governed public housing authority headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a federal grant recipient operating under HUD's Public and Indian Housing Office, delivering public housing operations, capital improvements, and resident economic-mobility services to low-income households in Cape Fear, North Carolina. The authority is not a federal contractor; it receives formula grants and project grants, acting as prime recipient on all recent federal awards with no subcontracting footprint to report.

Wilmington Housing Authority's grant portfolio centers on three core HUD programs administered by the Public and Indian Housing Office. The Public Housing Operating Fund (CFDA 14.850) dominates the recipient base, with multiple formula-grant allocations obligated since 2022 and extending through 2032, supporting day-to-day operations, maintenance, anti-crime and security activities, energy costs, resident supportive services, insurance, debt service, and administrative program implementation. Representative recent awards include a $356,938 operating fund grant obligated February 19, 2026 (completion December 31, 2030), a $384,035 operating fund grant obligated January 1, 2026 (completion December 31, 2032), a $213,078 operating fund grant obligated January 1, 2026 (completion December 31, 2032), and a $362,782 operating fund grant obligated January 1, 2026 (completion December 31, 2032). The Public Housing Capital Fund (CFDA 14.872) provides modernization and infrastructure capital, exemplified by a $3.401 million formula grant obligated April 1, 2026 (completion March 31, 2030) for capital and management activities, and an earlier $1.0 million capital award obligated May 6, 2024 (completion May 5, 2028). The Family Self-Sufficiency Program (CFDA 14.896) funds coordinator salaries and fringe benefits to support employment and economic mobility; representative awards include a $150,800 project grant for calendar 2026 (obligated January 1, 2026, completion December 31, 2026) and prior-year awards in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The authority also received a $1.0 million Jobs-Plus Pilot Initiative project grant obligated June 1, 2022 (completion May 31, 2025).

Customer concentration is extreme and by design: the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Public and Indian Housing Office accounts for 267 awards (97% of the total award footprint), with the remaining 27 awards distributed across HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development (16 awards), the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (2 awards), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (1 award). The authority's role is that of a single-agency public housing operator within the formulaic distribution system; nearly all federal dollars flow from HUD in the form of formula allocations tied to inventory characteristics, unit counts, and resident populations.

Activity has remained relatively steady across recent years: 17 awards in 2022, 24 in 2023, 16 in 2024, 16 in 2025, and 18 through April 2026. Seventeen awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, representing a recompete exposure window spanning operating fund formula renewals, capital fund periodic allocations, and project-grant continuations. The authority also executed federal grant sub-awards in August 2023 for scattered-site rehabilitation of 41 public housing units damaged by Hurricane Florence across five public housing complexes within its service territory.

Wilmington Housing Authority operates as a formula-grant recipient with no federal contracting role and no prime or subcontracting activity; the organization is a municipal public housing agency administering HUD's public housing and resident-services programs for Cape Fear residents, with $171.9 million in combined obligated dollars across 294 recent awards (primes and subs).