New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin expressed a desire to redevelop the Iberville Projects in 2003. In May 2009, Nagin announced a HANO (Housing Authority of New Orleans) proposal to raze part of the Iberville project for redevelopment into mixed-income housing. In 2011, HANO and the city of New Orleans were granted $30.5 million by the U.S Department of Housing. The grant was for improving the neighborhood's sustainability and increasing access to high-quality services. The 1937 Housing Act made it possible for politicians and bureaucrats to demolish five thousand units of public housing in the midst of a staggering post-disaster housing crisis.