CHAMPAIGN — A private developer from Atlanta has been chosen to help orchestrate redevelopment at the sites of Joann Dorsey Homes and Dunbar Court.

Both of those low-income housing complexes are expected to be demolished late this year or early next year to make way for new housing.

The Housing Authority of Champaign County this week approved a master development agreement with The Benoit Group, an Atlanta-based company that has developed several apartment and townhome projects in Georgia.

A committee selected The Benoit Group after interviewing four finalists in April.

"They were the best qualified of all the companies we looked at," said Edward Bland, the housing authority's executive director.

The housing authority is supplying residents of Dunbar Court, a 26-unit complex at 1208 N. Wright St., U, and Joann Dorsey Homes, a 67-unit complex at Bradley and McKinley avenues in Champaign, with Section 8 rental-assistance vouchers they can use to find housing elsewhere.

The two complexes — which are nearly 60 years old — are expected to be vacated by Oct. 31.

Demolition probably won't occur until late this year at the earliest, and construction of the new developments likely won't occur until late 2012 or 2013, Bland added.

Plans for the new units haven't been drawn up yet, he said.

It's expected the housing authority will have at least a 30 percent stake in any partnerships involving the new units, said Patty Smith, the housing authority's department manager for capital programs.

The partnerships would likely include The Benoit Group as well as equity partners, she added.

Bland said that from The Benoit Group's presentation, it was clear that the company had talked with people in the community and done its homework. The company's principal contact has been Torian Priestly, its vice president of development and advisory services.

Cindi Herrera and Associates of Charleston, S.C., has been the housing authority's consultant for the redevelopment projects.