Timelines for Calvert Square, Young Terrace redevelopments released by Norfolk housing authority

Yahoo

16-02-2025

Norfolk could submit plans to tear down two more public housing projects by the end of 2025, according to a new timeline.
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority released an updated schedule of the planned redevelopment process for Young Terrace and Calvert Square, the two remaining public housing projects in the St. Paul's area, during a Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday.
According to the preliminary timetable, the housing authority would select a master developer by May or June and submit an application for phased demolition to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by November or December.
Before those dates would come a plethora of community meetings and input sessions. A community forum for all public housing residents is scheduled from 3-7 p.m. Wednesday in a Scope exhibition hall. Kickoff meetings about the redevelopment process with Young Terrace and Calvert Square communities are scheduled for later in February.
Throughout the process, the development authority is trying to avoid the pitfalls of the Tidewater Gardens redevelopment, where residents were forced out of 618 aging and outdated units and many ended up settling in other poor, racially segregated areas, according to Virginian-Pilot analysis.
'The key strategy that we're looking toward part of this is not to dislocate, not to disrupt too much the folks in the community, and primarily with that is not to move people out of the community,' NRHA Chief Community Development Officer Steve Morales said during the meeting.
Former Tidewater Gardens residents sued and argued the city failed to find adequate replacement housing for them. A 2021 settlement gave displaced residents more opportunities to move back to the redeveloped area. As new buildings opened, some residents moved back but others opted not to.
Norfolk leaders have long sought to demolish the three public housing developments in St. Paul's and replace them with mixed-income housing. City Council approved the plan in 2018, and began to demolish the 600-unit Tidewater Gardens in 2020. The first two buildings of the $300 million Kindred development opened in 2024.
Once the Calvert Square and Young Terrace plan is formulated this year, the housing authority plans to apply for a HUD Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant in 2026, which would help finance the redevelopment.
However, several housing authority commissioners expressed concern about the availability of federal funding going forward, referencing a move by President Donald Trump's administration to temporarily halt funding of all federal grants a few weeks ago. That order was quickly paused by a federal judge a few days after it was announced, then rescinded by the administration.
Commissioners noted they thought the fight over federal funding was far from over, and they would have to continue to monitor the news out of Washington.
'Every day is a new development,' said commissioner Philip C. Smith.
Not a day later came another bombshell that could have implications for the project. On Friday, Bloomberg Law reported that HUD plans to discharge 50% of its workforce.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition warned that those severe staff cuts would make it significantly more difficult for states and communities to access congressionally approved federal investments meant to address housing affordability and prevent homelessness.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, [e-mail]