3 new Henrico developments receive affordable, special needs housing loans
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Three new Henrico County developments are among 24 projects statewide that will receive a share of more than $21 million in Affordable and Special Needs Housing loans, Gov. Ralph Northam announced July 8.
The funds (a combination of state and federal dollars) are designed to help improve access to affordable housing; reduce homelessness; provide permanent supportive housing options for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and complete energy efficiency updates in affordable housing units. They are being administered through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
The three Henrico projects will result in a total of 230 new affordable and special needs housing units.
The projects are:
• Bickerstaff Crossing, which will receive more than $1.2 million in loans to help fund the new construction of a one-building, 60-unit rental project along Bickerstaff Road in Varina. The two- and three-bedroom rental units will serve people who earn less than 30, 50 or 60 percent of the area median income, or AMI. All units will be built to meet Universal Design standards (meaning that all parts will be accessible to people regardless of age, disability or other factors) and with Energy Star appliances,. Five units will be fully accessible and marketed to people with disabilities. The building will be EarthCraft certified, contain community space, an on-site leasing office, and shared laundry, and each unit will have washer and dryer connections. Through its established adult programs, nonprofit Soar365 will provide support services and training and education programs to residents. The building will be served by a tenants council.
• Brook Villas, which will receive $700,000 in loans to help fund the new construction of 84 units of one-, two-, and three-bedroom low-rise apartments in Henrico’s Northside. The apartments will be built to EarthCraft Gold standards, and all 28 first floor units will meet Universal Design requirements. All apartments will be built to allow high-speed internet connectivity and will have washer and dryer connections. Community laundry machines will be provided, and there will be on-site leasing, a community room and fitness facilities, and financial counseling and job search services available to tenants.
• Cool Lane Apartments, which will receive a $602,000 loan to help fund the adaptive re-use of a vacant building in Eastern Henrico. Virginia Supportive Housing will renovate the former assisted-living facility into permanent supportive housing for homeless and low-income tenants. The existing structure will be redesigned and adapted to create 86 units for homeless and low-income tenants earning less than 50 percent of the AMI from Henrico and the City of Richmond.
Statewide, the funding will result in the creation or preservation of 1,266 affordable housing units for low-income and extremely low-income households.
“Quality, affordable housing is the key to advancing equity, opportunity, and economic prosperity in every corner of our Commonwealth,” said Northam. “The Affordable and Special Needs Housing program is an important resource for increasing access to safe and sustainable housing for low-income families, individuals with disabilities, and Virginians experiencing homelessness.”
The Affordable and Special Needs Housing loans, combine funding from four main sources: the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the federal National Housing Trust Fund, the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, and Housing Innovations in Energy Efficiency funds. In this round, the DHCD awarded approximately $1.6 million in HOME funding, $1.1 million in NHTF funding, $12.6 million in VHTF funding, and $6.2 million in HIEE funding.
Northam and the General Assembly allocated a total of $70.7 million to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund this fiscal year, which provides financing for housing construction projects that create or preserve affordable housing units, reduce the cost of affordable housing, and increase homeownership. VHTF is a source of financing to support moderate- and-low-income families in addition to providing homeless reduction grants for rapid re-housing and longer-term housing solutions for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
“Providing housing stability and supporting programs to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring is more important now than ever as we turn the corner from this pandemic,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball. “These loans will fill gaps in financing to make safe and affordable housing for our most vulnerable populations possible, which in turn strengthens our communities, our economy, and improves the lives of many Virginians across the Commonwealth.”
ASNH loans are awarded through a competitive process. Forty-one applications requesting more than $45 million were submitted for this round of funding. Proposals were reviewed, evaluated, and scored with proposals ranked and award offers recommended to the highest-ranking proposals based on funding availability. The funded projects will leverage more than $307 million in additional federal, state, local, and private lending resources.
