NY Times Article Mentions Local Efforts to Launch a Homesharing Program

Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission:

“The July 11, 2014 article in the New York Times, titled “Looking for a Housemate, Not a Mate, in Later Life” by Harriet Edleson includes reference to TJPDC Corporation’s efforts to launch a homesharing program in the Charlottesville area. Homesharing can be a viable option for many situations, including people now living alone in their large family homes, who may need additional income, assistance, and companionship in order to stay in their homes.”

For more information, click here

~TJPDC

Could old school be used for housing?

Carroll County:

“An idea to turn the old classrooms at the former Woodlawn school into housing has been added to the list of what Carroll County supervisors could do with 100-plus-year-old facility. The future use of the building hasn’t been clear since it reverted to Carroll’s ownership recently and ended its long run as an educational institution.

Citizens have expressed an interest in using Woodlawn as a youth center, a place for community functions and school athletics. While county officials have noted there will be a cost to continue operating the facility, Supervisor Tom Littrell reported at the April 14 board meeting that he’s seen successful examples of old school buildings being remodeled into affordable housing by a private agency.

Littrell recalled visiting with officials from Community Housing Partners in Christiansburg, along with Supervisor Sam Dickson and County Administrator Gary Larrowe. That’s where the county officials learned of the possibility of getting a housing developer involved.”

~Writes Christopher Brooke of the Galax Gazette

Click here to read this column

F.C. Planning Commission Gives Unanimous Thumbs Up to Proposed Kensington Project

City of Falls Church:

“An almost four-hour long sequence of meetings at City Hall Monday night culminated with a 5-0 unanimous vote by the Falls Church Planning Commission to recommend approval of the proposed Kensington Assisted Living project at the W. Broad site currently occupied by a Burger King. The Planners’ recommendation of approval was a key step to getting final approval from the Falls Church City Council, which sat with the Planners through the first nearly three hours of a work session deliberation. Following the joint work session, the Planners went into formal session in the Council chambers awaiting some last-minute clarification language on the 18 proffers offered by the developers — Ed Novak of Nova Habitat and Harley Cook of Kensington Homes — and when they were hammered out and signed off on by the developers, it then did not take long for the Planners to finish the night’s work around 11:20 p.m. tonight with their unanimous vote.

The key to overcoming concerns by some on both the Council and Planning Commission that persisted to tonight had to do with additional language added to the Kensington’s proffer package that served to insure the project would yield significant new revenues to the City annually. The change was more semantic than substantive, but it worked to make it clear the project was not seeking a subsidy, but on the contrary is willing to make ‘supplemental payments’ on its tax obligations to, as City Manager Wyatt Shields said, ‘pay its fair share of taxes.’ In an effort to underscore this, the project developers were willing to submit to a tax payment schedule annually equal to a basket, as it was stated, of comparable average tax payments of the 10 highest-taxed commercial entities in the City in any given year.”

~Writes Nicholas F. Benton of the Falls Church News-Press

Click here to learn more

Ecovillage: Housing development centered on people, earth

City of Charlottesville:

“Not satisfied with the state of community and the environment, one group has decided to create something more to their liking, an ecovillage. During a recent open house, about 50 people met at Charlottesville Ecovillage’s property off East Rio Road to hear about plans to use the 6.6-acre site as an intentional community and ecovillage — an alternative approach to housing focused on caring for oneself, each other and the Earth…

The vision statement for the community identifies ‘compassion, kindness, cooperation, open communication, justice and mutual trust as central to healthy living.’”

~Writes Effie Nicholaou of Charlottesville Tomorrow

Click here to learn more

Housing Conference: Session Proposals

Governor’s Housing Conference:

“The Governor's Housing Conference has a broad range of attendees from many professional sectors including nonprofit organizations, foundations and other philanthropic donors, affordable housing developers, economic developers, local government elected officials, design professionals, financial institutions, government agencies, private developers, real estate professionals, educational institutions trade organizations, community-based and faith-based organizations and public housing providers.

Innovative proposals are being sought to address a broad range of housing, community and economic development issues...  

The conference will offer 90-minute concurrent sessions, as well as 30-minute informational snap sessions.  The snap sessions are designed to provide brief and basic information about a specific topic or initiative. Each 90-minute concurrent session will be limited to three (3) panelists. Your proposal can recommend one additional person to serve as moderator or the program committee can provide one for the session. The snap sessions are limited to one speaker. The program committee will review and evaluate all proposals on a competitive basis. Due to session limitations, the conference cannot accommodate all proposed sessions, and the planning committee may merge topics or speakers to best accommodate the need.  Because of the complexity in scheduling around other conference activities, presenters will need to be flexible in availability and the acceptance of assigned time slots. Notifications regarding the status of proposals will be sent by Friday, June 27, 2014.

 All selected conference presenters will receive a complimentary conference registration that enables full participation in all conference activities, except any conference tours. Lodging and travel should be arranged by presenters, as these costs will not be provided by the conference. All selected conference presenters will be required to provide biographical information by Friday, September 5, 2014.”

~ DHCD

Click here to submit a proposal - deadline is May 9th!

Housing the Future Workforce of Hampton Roads

Housing Virginia:

“Dr. Lisa Sturtevant (Executive Director, Center for Housing Policy, National Housing Conference) will present a report on the type, pricing and location of housing needs throughout the region based on projected job growth over the next two decades. A panel of local industry experts will provide a response from the local market perspective.

The panel will include:

• Steve Lawson, Lawson Companies
• Dr. Vinod Agarwal, Old Dominion University
• Michael Carpenter, Virginia Peninsula Association of REALTORS
• William Harrell, Hampton Roads Transit

Sponsored By:

Hampton Roads Community Foundation, The Landmark Foundation, Hampton Roads REALTORS Association, The OBICI Healthcare Foundation, TowneBank, Housing Virginia, The Dragas Companies, The Lawson Companies, Virginia Housing Development Authority, The Beazley Foundation”

~Housing Virginia

Click here to register (by May 6th)

Virginia Beach company will open second facility

Chesterfield County:

“The Memory Center, a Virginia Beach-based company that specializes in services for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, said it plans a second assisted-living community - this one in Chesterfield County near Richmond.

The company, whose principals are Kevin DiBona and Paul Hirschbiel Jr., said The Memory Center of Richmond will be located on a 4-acre site adjacent to Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center. It's scheduled to open in 2015 and will feature 48 residential units designed around a 'town center' that will include a movie theater, general store, bank, tavern, library, ice cream stand and salon.

The Memory Center's first community opened in 2008 on Old Donation Parkway in Virginia Beach.”

~Writes Dave Mayfield of The Virginian-Pilot

Click here for the link