Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990 TAG: 9006120508
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short
Virginia Mountain Housing, based in Christiansburg, wants to convert the Bridge Commerce Center in the Great Bridge section of the city into 80 to 100 one-room efficiency apartments that would be rented for little or nothing to the homeless. The project would cost $2.5 million.
"Our goal is to provide minimal housing in a way that is affordable and does not have a lot of constraints," said Lloyd Lee Wilson, Mountain Housing's director of development.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has funded similar projects since 1988. Richmond already has approved a similar program, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 1991. The Virginia Beach project could open as early as spring 1991.
The City Council is expected to vote on the matter June 25.
Many localities have been hesitant to implement such housing plans because of fears they would become magnets for the homeless, said Maryann Ustick, director of the city's Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.
"We are taking a risk by going to the council and saying we need this," she said.
"The population we see all the time is young, employable, but they have problems. This housing piece is the part that gets them stable while they get the other pieces of their lives together," Ustick said.
by CNB