Premier Circle

Posted on February 8, 2022

Our next project in the Charlottesville region — the collaborative partnership redeveloping Premier Circle — aims to functionally end chronic homelessness in the community. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate impact on homeless services. Social distancing was difficult in congregate emergency shelters. In trying to solve the problem of providing safe, private shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness, a group of homeless service providers in the Charlottesville region got an idea: redevelop the Red Carpet Inn in Albemarle County in phases, developing non-congregate shelter in the short-term and permanent supportive housing and affordable housing in the long-term.

Read more about the project’s background and story here, via Charlottesville Tomorrow.

 

The partnership consists of People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM), Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH), Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA), and Virginia Supportive Housing. The partners were able to purchase the land with a landmark $4.25m grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

Phase One: Spring 2021-Spring 2023

Phase Two: Spring 2023-Spring 2025

Phase Three: Spring 2025-Fall/Winter 2026

Phase Four: Winter 2026

 

VSH will construct 80 permanent supportive housing units. These will be studio apartments serving individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. Supportive services will be available onsite for residents. 

In April 2021, Albemarle County awarded VSH 22 project-based vouchers, which will subsidize rent in 22 of the units. In VSH properties, residents contribute 30% of their income or $50 per month.

Premier Circle received a reservation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits in the 2021 Accessible Supportive Housing pool and commitments for DHCD HOME funds, Virginia Housing Trust Funds, National Housing Trust Funds and HIEE funds. Additional financing will include Solar Energy Credits, local funding, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta AHP funds, a Virginia Housing REACH Loan, and foundation funds.

 

Premier Circle will be Virginia Supportive Housing’s second project in the Charlottesville area, joining the Crossings at Fourth and Preston which opened in 2012. 

The Crossings at Fourth and Preston

Posted on April 14, 2014

The Crossings represents the Charlottesville area’s first permanent supportive housing community for formerly homeless individuals.  It’s also a mixed-income community in which 30 of the 60 studio apartments are designated for individuals who may not have experienced homelessness but whose incomes are 50 percent or less of the area median income.

The $7 million, energy-efficient development opened in March 2012. The 360-square-foot furnished units include kitchenettes, bathrooms, living areas and closets. The building has offices for staff and a community room with a kitchen. Amenities include an outdoor patio, laundry facilities, fitness room, computer room and front desk that is staffed 16 hours each day.

VSH offers on-site supportive services through case managers who help residents stabilize, reclaim their lives and retain their housing.

Residents of The Crossings are within walking distance to the central business district,  the University of Virginia and the Downtown Mall as well as several community health and support facilities.

The Crossing’s solar electric system is designed to reduce energy costs by up to 20 percent, and all appliances are Energy Star rated. The development won EarthCraft Virginia’s “Multi-Family New Construction of the Year” award and the Virginia Sustainable Building Network’s “Best Green Residential Project” award in 2012.

Thanks to support from the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County–as well as many community partners and state funding sources — The Crossings successfully fulfills a regional solution to homelessness.

 

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