Housing Development and Paying Residents to Attend City Council Meetings
Cheers RVA!
Today will be mostly sunny with a high of 87 and a low of 67. With more heat expected this weekend, this afternoon could be one of the last “cooler days” for the near future.
the juice:
The CEO of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) Steven Nesmith said he hired a local firm to pay residents $20 each to attend a City Council meeting to support a proposal to transfer Gilpin Court from the RRHA to a private subsidiary, according to reporting by Samuel Parker at the RTD.
The head of Venable Community Services Alicia Venable said her organization was hired by Nesmith and canvassed Gilpin Court with flyers offering to pay and transport residents to the meeting, with about 15 residents showing up to the June 9 City Council meeting.
Nesmith has said funding needed to rebuild the aged homes is only achievable with the help of “private, fundraised dollars.”
More than 2k people live in Gilpin Court, the city’s largest public housing project.
The 780-unit neighborhood was constructed between 1941-1943.
the pulp:
A 41-year old woman was killed after being struck by a vehicle walking near the 2900 block of Bells Road in South Richmond, via WRIC. The driver remained at the scene and the incident is under investigation. That stretch of roadway has no sidewalks but does have physically divided bike lanes.
The Armitage Building, a 130-yr old warehouse located at 3200 Williamsburg Road is slated to be renovated and become a mixed-use development, via Bizsense. Plans call for 6000 square feet of commercial space and 145 apartments, 80% of which would be market rate and 20% available to those earning up to 80% of the median income. The 160k-square feet building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
the dive:
Sarah Vogelsong from the Richmonder dives into the development of affordable housing in the city, with 25 agreements in place that could eventually provide more than 3k units of affordable housing.
The Affordable Housing Performance Grant Program provides incentives for developers to build housing offered at below market rate and provides refunds for increases in real estate taxes.
Vogelsong cites recent real estate data indicating a dramatic reduction in affordable housing:
According to data from the Richmond Association of Realtors, the median sales price for a single family home in the Richmond metro area more than doubled over the past decade, from just over $200,000 in 2014 to roughly $430,000 last year. The median price of condos and townhouses also skyrocketed over that period, from $200,000 to about $375,000.
At the same time, the number of lower-priced homes available on the market has tumbled. While roughly 11% of houses for sale in 2021 were priced between $100,000 and $199,999, only 1.5% were by the end of 2024.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a sunny day RVA!
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