Albemarle Co. approves funding for more affordable housing in Southwood

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - Albemarle County has approved over $3 million to support affordable housing.

Piedmont Housing Alliance and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville will both be working on affordable housing in the Southwood community. It’s two different projects, but both will benefit the people living there.

“We’re doing it - a 121 apartment project in the Southwood community - in partnership with Habitat, who’s doing the overall redevelopment of the Southwood community. But we are doing a small portion for affordable rental housing,” PHA Executive Director Sunshine Mathon said.

The funds are going to help PHA with the apartment project. More than $300,000 is going to Habitat.

“$300,000 is going to help us temporarily rehouse some folks that are in the path of redevelopment, and so it creates money to create 14 temporary housing units so that we have places to move people to as they’re transitioning to their ultimate home,” Greater Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity VP and CFO John Desmond said.

Both projects support people in Southwood on their way to a more permanent home, but PHA’s permanent rental homes will be open to anyone in need.

“We will of course do outreach and prioritize as much as we legally can the current residents of Southwood, but it will be open generally speaking to the community as a whole,” Mathon said.

“It’s a win for the entire community when we can get aid for affordable housing,” Desmond said.

The goal is to start construction on the PHA project in March or April of next year. Habitat plans to start building in the fall with the goal to finish up in six to eight months.

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