Progress being made at Southwood neighborhood project

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - More families are set to move into the Southwood neighborhood this summer when a big chunk of the affordable housing project is supposed to be finished.

“Things are moving,” Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville CEO & President Dan Rosensweig said. “This is starting to seem less construction site and more neighborhood, and that’s really what we’re looking forward to.”

Families are already living in the first village, and 49 Habitat for Humanity homes are under construction.

“The second village, the land construction is underway,” Rosensweig said. “When you come back here in a couple of months, summertime, you’ll see the parks will be done.”

Progress here is progress for affordable housing efforts in the Charlottesville area.

“We’re in this really great position of being able to bring together new arrivals to Southwood market-rate purchasers and longtime Southwood residents to get together to get to know each other and to really form the heart, the core of the new community,” Rosensweig said.

The goal is build about 75 homes per year.

“It’s the culmination of 15 years of planning. When the first families move in, everyone’s going to take about 30 seconds and breathe a big sigh of relief and celebrate, and then we’re going to move forward to the next one because we’re going to be pushing and pushing and pushing for the next decade or so,” Rosensweig said.

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