Friendship Court Funding Decision Tops off Busy First Half of 2019
Topping off a busy six months at Friendship Court, on June 19 the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) allocated to Piedmont Housing Alliance (Piedmont Housing) and NHT Communities partners in the redevelopment approximately $15,888,440 in tax credits from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. This funding will be used for construction-related costs for the housing portion of Friendship Court’s Phase 1. It will not cover the cost of the planned Community Services Center Building located between the Phase 1 buildings.
Groundbreaking is expected to begin in spring 2020.
The LIHTC application was submitted in March 2019. As part of the application and planning process, we – along with the Friendship Court Advisory Committee, which includes nine elected residents from the Friendship Court community, made a series of important decisions for Phase 1 including finalizing the number of units, the style of the buildings, the income mix and the general layouts of the units.
The allocation of tax credits, serves to secure Phase 1 financing.
Other changes have also taken place over the past six months. Shawna Wells joined Piedmont Housing in the new role of Economic Opportunity Coordinator (EOC) in March. The EOC role is based at Friendship Court and Wells is developing and leading our Community Wealth-Building Program, a new multi-faceted initiative that aims to build resident income, household economic resilience, and community opportunities for residents at Friendship Court. Specifically, she will provide financial and employment coaching, create the HUD FSS program at Friendship Court.
Piedmont Housing began managing the community in early June. Our property management division led by Regional Community Manager, Amanda Chandler, assumed management responsibilities from Edgewood Management. As a result, residents have seen several staffing changes. Latasha Collins, who previously managed Woods Edge Senior Living in our portfolio, was named Community Manager at Friendship Court. Joining her are Assistant Community Manager, Marcie Horree; Maintenance Supervisor, Travis Hudson; Community Administrative Assistant, Tyericka Clark; and Maintenance Technicians Marcus Gresham and Ben Haskins.
The changes have just begun and we, along with the Advisory Committee, are dedicated to ensuring that residents are updated frequently about progress and continue to play a major role in decision-making.