In a year where many of us followed guidelines to stay at home, the skies of downtown Charlottesville were marked by cranes building new spaces for the 21st century. In their shadow, projects to provide more affordable units moved through the bureaucratic process required to keep them below-market. Before the clock strikes 2021, let’s look […]
In a year where many of us followed guidelines to stay at home, the skies of downtown Charlottesville were marked by cranes building new spaces for the 21st century. In their shadow, projects to provide more affordable units moved through the bureaucratic process required to keep them below-market. Before the clock strikes 2021, let’s look […]
For Shelby Marie Edwards, serving her community comes naturally. Edwards grew up watching her mother, Holly Edwards, advocate for low-income residents as a parish nurse for the Jefferson Area Board for Aging and as program coordinator for the Public Housing Association of Residents. Now the younger Edwards is following in those footsteps as PHAR’s new […]
Do-over Multiple public housing developments in Charlottesville are one step closer to getting a badly needed makeover. At its Monday meeting, City Council unanimously approved two ordinances regarding the redevelopment of Crescent Halls, South First Street, and Friendship Court. The Piedmont Housing Alliance will take the lead on the first phase of Friendship Court’s redevelopment, […]
Funding cut loose Long-on-the-books redevelopment plans for Friendship Court, Southwood Mobile Home Park, and Crozet’s town center got millions in funding last week. Southwood and Crozet Plaza each got a $3.2-million go-ahead from Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors June 19, contingent upon rezoning approval in August. And Friendship Court can start phase one of its redevelopment […]
What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, the housing bubble had burst, the hottest area in real estate was foreclosures, and the Downtown Mall was littered with vacancies. Today, the county development scene is “white hot,” according to Albemarle Director of Community Development Mark Graham, and in the city, Director of Economic Development […]
A group of Friendship Court residents is pushing back against redevelopment plans, calling for more inclusion as developers move forward with attempts to revamp downtown Charlottesville’s largest subsidized housing neighborhood. The Piedmont Housing Alliance announced last fall that it was purchasing the property with 150 low-income units in 2018 and was transforming it into a large-scale, […]
The public announcement September 21 that Piedmont Housing Alliance would option its right of first refusal to purchase the land and housing complex of Friendship Court has the potential to forever change the landscape and fabric of downtown Charlottesville. The fully occupied 150-unit complex, designated as lower-income housing, sits sandwiched between the increasingly popular Ix […]