LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Joyce Mason moved out of Louisville's Dosker Manor affordable housing complex Friday, and it marked a major milestone.

She was the 100th person to be moved from the place that will soon be demolished due to years of violence and substandard living conditions.

Mason lived in Dosker Manor for 17 years and watched it go downhill. A history of poor maintenance at Dosker Manor — dirty hallways, litter, mice, mold, bed bugs — and crime led to Metro Council calling for an investigation into the Louisville Metro Housing Authority. Some councilmembers went so far as to call LMHA "the worst slumlord of them all."

"I think people lost hope, and they didn't see anything happening," Mason said Friday.

In July, LMHA said they had 100 apartments open and ready for residents from Dosker Manor. But there is nothing easy about moving and finding a new place to live. LMHA is paying for the move and has hired a moving contractor that will do everything for residents — pack their apartments and unpack them at their new place. If residents move themselves, they can be reimbursed up to $1,300.

From the beginning, LMHA has said that it would take almost a year and-a-half to get everyone out of Dosker Manor. The challenge is finding suitable apartments in a tight rental market. The apartment occupancy rate in Louisville is over 90%. LMHA is competing for low-income apartments, finding suitable accommodations for everyone currently living at Dosker will require LMHA to create housing.   

A moving crew showed up Friday morning to take all of Mason's boxes and bags of belongings to her new apartment. LMHA helped her tour several apartment options before she chose Sheppard's Square on South Jackson Street.

Dosker Manor Housing

Residents are moving out of Dosker Manor so that the building can be torn down.

"I give all the praise to the Lord. All the praise. All the praise. Thank you Lord!" Mason said Friday as she moved out. "... I feel special. I'm 100, like I won the lottery or something."

Mason said she loves that it's in a familiar part of town and has modern amenities. 

"It's brand new. It's been a long time coming," she said. "... The thing I'm gonna like most is taking a bath, because we only have showers here." 

There are still more than 420 Dosker Manor residents who need to be relocated, and LMHA said the process will take at least another 12 months.

"We want every resident to realize that this will be you one day," Jailen Leavell, a spokesperson for LMHA, said Friday. "... We've been with our residents every step of the way."

Dosker Manor will be demolished in 2026, and LMHA has chosen local firm LDG Development to lead the reconstruction. The housing authority said LDG beat out more than a dozen development firms for the project.

Plans for the new Dosker Manor include senior housing on the current site of the First Link corner store, while additional family housing will be built on the current grounds of the complex. The new development will not include high-rise buildings, a significant change from the current structure.

The exact timeline for Dosker Manor's redevelopment has not been finalized, but construction is expected to begin soon after the demolition is complete. 

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