City to provide funding boost to mixed-income development

When Rydell Payne stares out at three acres of woodlands and grass between Fifth Street and Prospect Avenue, he doesn’t just see a ripe development opportunity; he sees a way to improve the lives of surrounding residents.
Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, the nonprofit Payne runs, is looking to build a mixed-income housing development and a multi-purpose educational and vocational center on the site.
The two projects not only would provide homeownership prospects for people in the neighborhood, but also give them a nearby location to receive job training and financial literacy courses. The goal is to expand the purview of this “Prospect College” beyond that of the typical community center, while still offering day care and classes for seniors.
“I’m excited about what this could do to draw neighbors to a caring, safe place to come together, to learn together and deepen relationships,” Payne said.
On Monday, the City Council is slated to allocate $67,000 in federal funding to the organization to help it purchase 1.4 acres abutting Prospect Avenue. The organization, founded in the mid-1990s as a partnership between local church members and residents, already owns the adjacent site facing Fifth Street. To date it has raised $100,000 for the ambitious projects, and is gearing up a fundraising campaign to net another quarter-million.
Abundant Life is collaborating with the local Habitat for Humanity on the housing complex, which could break ground by the end of 2009. Payne envisions building 20 units, with a mix of single-family homes and duplexes, on the site. Habitat has a contract to construct four units, but is open to increasing that number after Abundant Life buys the other property this summer, according to Overton McGehee, Habitat’s executive director.
The organization has already identified prospective tenants in the neighborhood, some of whom live in the adjacent Blue Ridge Commons subsidized apartments.
“One of the attractions is that there are families in that neighborhood already preparing for homeownership,” McGehee said.
The possibility of turning several local families into homeowners is the main reason the city is funneling federal dollars to Abundant Life. The city’s Community Development Block Grant task force chose this project to receive funding over several others.
With the city’s assistance, “Abundant Life can get some mixed income and new houses in there, and that would be a great way to help bring up the neighborhood,” said Jennifer McKeever, the head of the task force. “It’s certainly something we want to promote.”
Payne holds out the possibility of having some office space and retail, such as a laundry or coffee shop, next to the residential buildings.
His goal, however, goes far beyond housing. Payne envisions the “college” as a two- to four-story building, with some dormitory space. He has had discussions with the Virginia Employment Commission about opening a satellite office there and hopes Piedmont Virginia Community College can offer workforce development and job training courses as well.
“We want to serve older teens and adults to help them start a business, further their education or buy a home,” Payne said.