Charlottesville City Council will not officially see a draft of the next budget until March, but City Manager Sam Sanders spent some time on December 15 setting up the next round of requests for affordable housing funds.
“Our goal would be to begin to have conversations with you about prioritizing these considerations for the budget, if you would like to see them funded in the budget,” Sanders said.
Charlottesville City Council adopted an affordable housing plan in 2021 that called for a minimum of $10 million a year on programs, a goal that has been surpassed each subsequent year. A question in the next budget cycle will be whether council wants to increase the goal.
In recent years, the Piedmont Housing Alliance has received millions for projects such as the conversion of Friendship Court into Kindlewood with a minimum of 425 total units. Phase 2 is currently under construction and the city has committed another $4.15 million to build 85 units in Phase 3.
PHA is also building 71 units at 501 Cherry Ave., with the city contributing $3.15 million to the project. One of the new funding requests is $700,000 to support the Charlottesville Food Co-Op’s efforts to build a community grocery store at the location.
Another of the new funding requests comes from PHA for Kindlewood Phase 4. The city has already committed $4.5 million to the fourth phase but now PHA wants another $3 million so it can build all 131 units envisioned.
“With no additional funding, there is an indication that they do not see being able to deliver the 425 units, so that would now be 388 instead,” Sanders said.
There will be a work session on January 5 to get further direction from City Council.
In the coming months, council will be asked to consider support for three requests from other groups. Community Services Housing wants $900,000 as a financing match for renovations to keep 40 units affordable. Preservation of Affordable Housing is trying once again to secure city funding for a project at 1000 Wertland St. and wants $3 million. Council said no earlier this year.
Brick Lane is seeking $1.75 million to renovate the Holiday Inn on Seminole Trail into a mixed-income apartment building. There would be 192 units overall with 19 targeted at households that make up to 60 percent of the area median income.
Council also got an overview for various projects in construction and planning.
A new era began for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority in recent years, with the renovation of Crescent Halls and construction of the first new units in a generation at South First Street. The city has contributed a total of $6 million toward construction of 113 units for the second phase at South First Street and 47 units for the first phase at Sixth Street.
Council has also reserved a total of $15 million for the redevelopment of Westhaven, the city’s first public housing site. A second version of a major development plan for the site was filed on December 15, and the existing units will be replaced with 102 townhouses, 82 multi-family housing units, and 80 apartments reserved for seniors.
Additionally, the city has committed $3.77 million for PHA’s construction of 86 units at 1025 Park St. and $2.25 million for 50 units on the property of the Park Street Christian Church.
PHA and Habitat’s acquisition of the Carlton Mobile Home Park is backed by $8.7 million in funds.
“That’s the act of getting the property under our control and servicing the loan that was used to purchase property,” Sanders said. “It is not about construction of the units.”
Charlottesville has also given $936,000 to the group SupportWorks Housing for the 80-unit Vista29 under construction on U.S. 29 in Albemarle County.
