Va. City Expands Affordable Housing

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Norfolk development to provide diverse new community with affordable housing choices. Covering 87 acres, it’s the largest residential development on Norfolk’s East Side in over 30 years.
Va. City Expands Affordable Housing

RISMEDIA, July 26 — Plans for Broad Creek Renaissance (BCR) — the largest new residential construction initiative on Norfolk’s east side in over 30 years — were unveiled Thursday during a cornerstone laying ceremony for the neighborhood’s first building, Franklin Arms senior living complex.

Broad Creek will provide a major boost to the City’s Strategic Housing Initiative, “Come Home to Norfolk Now,” and its goal to improve the City’s housing stock and to make Norfolk a more desirable place to live.

“Like many of the nation’s cities, Norfolk has a shortage of affordable and moderately priced homes,” says Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim. “Broad Creek promises to be an urban neighborhood that will offer new opportunities for people who want to live in the city. A socially and economically diverse community, it will provide many suburban amenities, yet be only minutes from downtown. It will have something for everyone.”

“We want to attract young professionals, couples and families, as well as empty nesters and retirees looking for a diverse and contemporary urban experience,” says Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority Chairman Joshua Paige.

BCR represents more than $150 million in public/private investment. Strategically located minutes from Norfolk State University, Norfolk Industrial Park and downtown and within easy access of the interstate, Broad Creek is located on the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River. It encompasses two square miles and 14 neighborhoods.

The cornerstone for this new community was unveiled at a ceremony Thursday at the Roberts Park Elementary school, 2600 East Princess Anne Road, next to the future site of the Franklin Arms senior living complex.

Guest speakers included Mary Ann Wilson, director of the HUD Richmond Office, City Councilman Anthony Burfoot, Virginia General Assembly Delegate Winsome Sears, Virginia Housing Development Authority Executive Director Susan Dewey, Norfolk Redevelopment NRHA Executive Director Ernest Freeman and Paige.

Franklin Arms, a 100-unit senior complex with contemporary amenities, will be the first component of construction in the overall development. Completion is expected late next summer. Franklin Arms is named after the late Vera Franklin, a long-time Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority manager, who was instrumental in putting together an unprecedented community and supportive services partnership to serve the future of Broad Creek.

A $35 million HUD Hope VI grant will transform a public housing complex of some 700 families at Bowling Green and Roberts Village into a community of far greater opportunity, diversity and stability.

The plan is to leverage these funds to develop a comprehensive strategy to preserve and upgrade neighborhoods surrounding Bowling Green and Roberts Village, as well as replace outdated housing stock. The quality of life for area residents will be boosted by an array of community enhancements, including a regional library, YMCA, green open-spaces, biking and walking trails, as well as cultural and recreational amenities.

The master plan, covering 87 acres, will include approximately 600 new residences arranged in single-family house, townhouse and apartment styles. The number of units could change slightly as the project is refined. Total build out is expected in the fall of 2007.

Building upon existing styles in Norfolk and the BCR areas, five architecture styles — Craftsman, Tudor, Cape Cod, Traditional/Colonial and Classical will be prominent in Broad Creek. BCR will connect a series of well- knit neighborhoods and combine the graceful and historic architecture of adjoining communities. The design goal of BCR is to strengthen and connect the urban fabric of the neighborhoods.

Broad Creek Renaissance is a public-private initiative of the City of Norfolk, Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Virginia Housing Development Authority, The Community Builders (TCB), a leading national developer of urban communities, and Ripley Heatwole, a noted regional developer of multifamily housing.

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