2025 Annual Report

Aaron Darden

I don’t know about you, but it can be easy for me to keep my head down and focus on doing the work, without taking a moment to lift my head and survey what’s been accomplished. That’s one of the reasons I so enjoy sharing this report each year – it’s a chance to purposefully look at the prior year’s work. And, every single time I do, I’m amazed.

Amazed at how quickly the Phoenix @ 36N, Phase I of the 36N development, was built and fully occupied. Amazed at the renovations at Mohawk Manor and Seminole Hills. Amazed at the onset of The Hilltop project.

Our team, our partners, and our community continue to accomplish more than we could have dreamt when we first got serious about housing development. It’s truly taken all of us working together to get here.

I want to put a fine point on just how phenomenal the people who work at THA truly are. Their commitment to serving, uplifting, supporting, and truly impacting lives on a daily basis never ceases to amaze me. I am so proud to be a part of a team that delivers the most critical need we all have – a place to call home.

It’s also taken the strategic vision of our Board of Commissioners, who have supported and facilitated this enormous shift in our operations. Rick Neal has served as chairman of our board since I arrived in 2017, and I am forever grateful for his leadership.
Of course, there’s much work yet to be done. Tulsa’s need for affordable housing only continues to grow, and developing new housing while preserving what we have will continue to be the core of our strategic vision.

I hope that as you read through this annual report, you will see how every single figure represents the heart of our work – creating a better Tulsa by transforming lives and communities.

Rick Neal

When I joined the Tulsa Housing Authority Board of Commissioners 11 years ago, I wanted to be part of an organization that helped Tulsa’s most vulnerable. What I didn’t foresee was the massive shift in strategy – and in impact – I would witness in those 11 years.

In 2014, THA was a sufficient manager of its Public Housing properties and administrator of the Section 8 voucher program. In 2025, THA is the largest developer of affordable housing in the state of Oklahoma, with almost half a billion dollars in investment in affordable and mixed-income housing.

The vision of THA’s leadership to exit Public Housing through HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program has proven to be a forward-thinking, sound strategy that has yielded incredible results, including the rehabilitation of six THA properties, extending their usable life in a time when Tulsa can’t afford to lose a single unit of housing.

The pursuit and award of two Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants has fundamentally transformed not just THA as an agency, but our city. You need only drive down Southwest Boulevard, or the corner of 36th St. North & Peoria to see the transformation.

But the real transformation is found inside each apartment at River West and 36N. The impact on the people who live at these developments will be generational. We’re already seeing it.
We expect to see similar outcomes at The Hilltop, which broke ground in 2025. A fully affordable community, The Hilltop will have 20 housing units set aside for Tulsans exiting homelessness. Not to mention the unparalleled views of downtown Tulsa that will now be available to all who will call The Hilltop home.

Of course, work of this magnitude isn’t accomplished alone. THA’s many community partners, including philanthropic partners – The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Ascension St. John, and the Sanford & Irene Burnstein Family Foundation – have played an instrumental role in supporting our critical work, and for that, we are so very thankful.

As my time as a member of THA’s Board of Commissioners comes to a close, I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve this organization that has given so much to our community. I’m grateful that the work will continue, and that lives and communities will continue to be transformed.

$ 0

in development activity

Tulsans newly housed

0 %

of those housed were experiencing homelessness

housing units built, under construction, or rehabbed

$ 0

paid to Tulsa landlords

$ 0

distributed to Family Self-Sufficiency Program graduates

pounds of food distributed to residents

Aaron Darden

Driving down Southwest Boulevard and 23rd Street is a surreal experience these days. What was once a vision – an idea – is now reality, with the completion of Tulsa’s first intentional mixed-income community at River West.

Being able to drive down new streets that lead to beautiful new apartments, with a new city park at the center, a new YMCA next door, the new (first) sit-down restaurant across the street, and witnessing the evolution of the new Montessori program at Eugene Field Elementary is incredible.

What I love most is seeing our River West residents enjoying their home, swimming in the community pool, and playing at Celebration Park. People are at the center of this and each and every one of our development projects because transforming communities transforms lives.

Seeing the success of River West makes us even more excited for what’s to come at 36N, Tulsa’s second Choice Neighborhoods project. Progress is moving rapidly and its incredible to see how much the footprint of 36th North & Peoria has already changed since groundbreaking in 2024.

Equally as important as building new housing is preserving existing affordable housing, and 2024 was a banner year for preservation at our properties. Significant rehabilitations either began at our Pioneer Plaza, Mohawk Manor, Seminole Hills, and Whitlow communities, creating beautiful new homes for residents and extending the usable life of much-needed affordable housing.

Just as with River West, seeing the smiles of our residents as they enter their newly remodeled homes brings a joy I can’t explain.

It feels like a full circle moment to complete what was the largest ever investment in affordable housing in Tulsa’s history at the time in the same year as breaking ground on what is now the record holder for investment for our city. One thing is for sure – 2024 was a year we lived out our mission of creating a better Tulsa by transforming lives and communities.

Rick Neal

779 Housing units and over $177,500,000 in community investment. That’s the impact Tulsa Housing Authority had in a single year – 2024.Numbers like that were unfathomable when I joined the Tulsa Housing Authority Board of Commissioners in 2014.

That impact is the result of a shift in strategy by THA to meet the persistent and urgent need for affordable housing. In 2017 THA began converting almost all of our properties from HUD’s Public Housing Program to the Section 8 Program. This allowed for significant renovations at several of our properties and the preservation of existing affordable housing.

Importantly, in partnership with the City of Tulsa, the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, THA undertook the largest investment ($30,000,000) in affordable housing with the River West Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. The project’s great success has solidified our commitment to creating mixed-income communities that deconcentrate poverty, change lives and uplift neighborhoods.

The success of River West established THA as a leading affordable housing developer and created the incredibly rare opportunity for Tulsa to be awarded two concurrent Choice Neighborhoods Grants. With 36N, our second CNI grant, HUD has now awarded Tulsa $85 million to invest in mixed-income communities. It is exciting to know that our efforts will see the revitalization of the 36th Street corridor over the next few years.

The continued commitment of Tulsa’s leaders to address the need for affordable housing is encouraging. It will take every sector of our community – government, non-profit and corporate to meet the challenges and I am proud that the Tulsa Housing Authority has and will continue to work with our community partners to create a better Tulsa.