Posted on January 26, 2023
In January 2023, Virginia Supportive Housing announced plans for a renovation and expansion of Gosnold Apartments in Norfolk.
Project Plans
The renovation and expansion of Gosnold Apartments will include the new construction of 41 studio units for a total of 100 units. 59 of the existing 60 units will be fully renovated and all fixtures, finishes, and equipment will be replaced. Each unit will be approximately 375 square feet and feature a kitchenette with full size appliances and a full bathroom. Units will be fully furnished with a bed, nightstand, dresser, table, and two chairs. The expansion will increase the number of fully accessible units from nine to fifteen as well as add two units for individuals with sensory impairments.
Upon completion the building will have an elevator, an extensive security system, a community room, two exterior courtyards, a computer room, laundry facilities, a front desk, and staff offices for on-site property management and supportive services staff. The front desk is staffed 16 hours a day and a night monitor is on call in the evenings. The renovation of Gosnold will meet a higher energy efficiency rating than typical code-built apartments. The existing 49 space parking lot will be improved with signage and an access-control system.
Gosnold Apartments residents will be temporarily relocated during construction and welcomed back to the building upon construction completion. VSH property management and supportive services staff will be available to assist residents at the relocation site. VSH will pay for all relocation expenses.
The renovation and expansion of Gosnold will cost approximately $20 million and will be funded through a wide variety of financing sources including Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Virginia Housing funds, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) funds, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta AHP funds, local funds, private foundations, and individual donors. The project architect is VIA design architects. Construction is expected to begin in 2024 with construction completion anticipated in summer 2025.
Gosnold II in Context
There is significant need for the 40 units of permanent supportive housing that the project will add to the region. The January 2022 Point-In-Time Count conducted by the Southeastern Virginia Homeless Coalition counted over 700 individuals experiencing homelessness, 469 of whom resided in Norfolk. Of those 700, 157 were considered chronically homeless; 124 resided in Norfolk.
Virginia Supportive Housing opened Gosnold Apartments in 2006 as Virginia’s first regional permanent supportive housing community. Gosnold Apartments, located in Norfolk, involved the adaptive reuse of an RC Bottling plant into 60 studio apartments for formerly homeless single adults from the Hampton Roads region. All residents earn 50% or less of the Area Median Income and pay no more than 30% of their income in rent. Gosnold Apartments is permanent rental housing; residents sign leases, pay a monthly rent, and are provided with on-site supportive services by VSH staff. VSH’s evidenced-based supportive housing model works: more than 98% of individuals we serve do not return to homelessness.
Posted on January 17, 2018
Church Street Station Studios, which opened November 2017, is our newest supportive housing community and our sixth development in South Hampton Roads. The five-story, 80-unit property is located in the Olde Huntersville neighborhood of Norfolk.
Church Street Station Studios is a mixed-income community with a blend of units for formerly homeless clients and low-income clients. Forty units have rental subsidies for homeless adults, and the remaining units have rental subsidies for individuals earning 50% or less of the area median income. Church Street Station Studios is permanent rental housing; residents sign leases and pay a monthly rent.
Each unit is approximately 350 square feet and includes a bed, nightstand, dresser, table, two chairs, kitchenette with full refrigerator and range oven, and full bathroom. Eight units are completely accessible for persons with disabilities. The building has an extensive security system and off-street parking. In addition to apartments, the building contains a community room, a computer room, a fitness room, resident phone room, laundry facilities, a front desk, and staff offices. The front desk is staffed sixteen hours per day with a night monitor on duty at night. The development is EarthCraft Virginia-certified for green building and resource and energy efficiency. All appliances are Energy Star rated.
Total development costs were approximately $13.9 million dollars. Key funders and partners include:
• Alison J. and Ella W. Parsons Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation
• The Cabell Foundation
• City of Norfolk
• City of Virginia Beach
• Corporation for Supportive Housing
• Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
• Hampton Roads Community Foundation
• The Home Depot Foundation
• Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• The Virginian-Pilot
• Virginia Beach Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation
• Virginia Community Capital, Inc.
• Virginia Community Development Corporation
• Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development
• Virginia Housing Development Authority
To inquire about leasing an apartment at Church Street Station Studios, call (757) 544-9907.
Posted on May 27, 2014
Crescent Square, VSH’s fifth development in South Hampton Roads, opened in 2016 and includes 42 units for formerly homeless individuals and 38 units for individuals earning 50 percent or less of the area median income. Crescent Square is VSH’s second property in Virginia Beach and the organization’s second mixed-income community—meaning that it serves both formerly homeless and low-income individuals. As with other properties, VSH offers on-site supportive services through case managers who help residents stabilize, retain their housing and reclaim their lives. In turn, residents sign leases and pay a minimum rent payment of $50 per month.
Each 360-square-foot unit has basic furnishings and will include a kitchenette with a full-sized, Energy Star-rated refrigerator and range with oven, a living area, a full bathroom and a closet. Eight of the units are completely accessible for persons with disabilities.
In addition to high-tech security system and off-street parking, amenities include a community room, computer room, fitness room, laundry facilities, and a front desk staffed 16 hours per day.
Outdoor amenities include a landscaped patio with a community garden for the residents and bicycle storage units. Crescent Square is EarthCraft Virginia-certified for green building and energy efficiency.
Key funders and partners include:
- the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
- Virginia Community Development Corporation
- Virginia Housing Development Authority
- Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development
- the City of Virginia Beach
- the City of Norfolk
- the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority
- the Hampton Roads Community Foundation
- the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
- the Home Depot Foundation
- Wells Fargo
- Portfolio Recovery Associates
- the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.
Total development costs were approximately $12 million. In 2016, Crescent Square won the ULI Virginia Vision Award Innovative Deal of the Year award.
To inquire about leasing an apartment at Crescent Square, call 757-578-1776.
Many individuals and organizations have supported Crescent Square and its future residents through VSH’s “Adopt-a-Home” program. A $3,000 gift, payable over three years, assists with supportive services to help residents reclaim their lives and provides furnishings for the apartments.
Donors are recognized on a permanent display wall in the lobby.
Posted on May 27, 2014
Heron’s Landing, a community of 60 studio apartments in Chesapeake, opened in 2013 for formerly homeless single adults from the South Hampton Roads area. As a regional solution to end homelessness, the $10 million development includes funding from Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Suffolk.
Each furnished, 320-square-foot unit contains a kitchenette, full bathroom, living area and a closet. The building has a community room with kitchen, a fitness room, a computer room, laundry facilities, a front desk and staff offices. Four units are fully accessible for formerly homeless single adults with disabilities.
Heron’s Landing is EarthCraft Virginia-certified for green building and resource and energy efficiency. The building incorporates a photovoltaic solar electric system designed to reduce the building’s energy load by up to 20 percent. It includes a solar thermal hot water system, and all appliances are Energy Star-rated. Heron’s Landing won the Hampton Roads Housing Consortium Housing Partner Special Projects Award in 2013.
Residents sign leases and pay 30 percent of their income in rent with a minimum rent payment of $50 per month.
VSH offers on-site supportive services through case managers who help residents stabilize, retain their housing and reclaim their lives.
Posted on April 15, 2014
South Bay Apartments in Portsmouth, Virginia is the third regional permanent supportive housing development for formerly homeless adults from Hampton Roads. Opened in 2010, each of the 60 studio apartments is about 380 square feet and includes a bed, dresser, table, chair, kitchenette and full bathroom. Six of the units are fully accessible for persons with disabilities.
The localities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake provided funding and rental subsidies, and the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority donated the land. Additional funding sources included the syndication of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, loans from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and Virginia Housing Development Authority and grants from private foundations. Total development costs were approximately $7 million dollars.
South Bay Apartments is EarthCraft Virginia-certified for energy and resource efficiency and incorporates a photovoltaic solar electric system designed to reduce the building’s energy load by up to 20%. In addition, all appliances are Energy Star rated. South Bay Apartments won the EarthCraft Virginia Multi-Family New Construction of the Year Award in 2011.
Tenants pay 30% of their income as rent, with a minimum rent payment of $50 per month. Supportive services are available to help residents stabilize and improve their health, incomes and housing.
