THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701250301
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 108 lines
Chesapeake Manor, one of the largest privately owned low-income apartment complexes in Norfolk, is being torn down - but the property's owner says he cannot yet say how the 37-acre site will be redeveloped.
Many of Chesapeake Manor's 700 residents have moved out of the units, located off Sewells Point Road just south of East Little Creek Road, and city officials say they have no plans to help relocate those still there.
The razing is the most recent in a two-decade series of demolitions of private, low-income complexes in Norfolk, including Robin Hood Apartments, Lafayette Shores, Lakeland Apartments and Marshall Manor.
In other South Hampton Roads cities, low-income housing is also getting scarce.
For example, the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority is in the midst of tearing down the last few dozen homes in the decrepit, World War II-era Foundation Park, now called Campostella Square.
In Norfolk, Chesapeake Manor's new owner, Todd Copeland, would not divulge any plans he may have for the 37-acre tract.
``I wish I knew,'' he said when asked this week.
But city councilwoman Daun Sessoms Hester said Copeland's ``mission is military housing.'' She wants the site to be commercially developed, though she said she lacks support and a potential developer. Residents of adjacent neighborhoods seem to favor single-family homes, Hester said.
About 100 of Chesapeake Manor's 330 families have moved out of the one- and two-bedroom units, according to rental office agent Arlene Akil, and the first of many buildings has been demolished. While some residents have left voluntarily, others have been evicted for failing to pay their rent, she said this week.
Alice Taylor, executive director of St. Columba Ecumenical Ministries in Norfolk, said Friday that Chesapeake Manor tenants ``are afraid,'' as apartments are torn down next to their own. ``How scary can that be?''
Taylor said she expects many of the people displaced in this demolition will become homeless, and she pointed out that under new public housing guidelines, ``employed, stable, upwardly mobile'' applicants are favored.
``Now where do they go?'' Taylor asked.
``It's sad. The parents of friends I went to school with are still there,'' Hester said. ``Usually, it's an African-American community that we're tearing down.''
Hester said she didn't know whether city officials ``will negotiate with Copeland or not, but I'm in a business frame of mind. I need to bring jobs in here for my people and see that they're trained for them.''
City officials asked the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority whether it would be able to take applications for public housing from Chesapeake Manor residents, said Helen Shober, NRHA's public affairs manager. While they might qualify as potential applicants for public housing, NRHA ``wouldn't want to give any false hope,'' she said.
The waiting list for subsidized private housing, or Section 8, numbers 3,908 and is closed. The list for public housing stands at 1,200. The average number of public housing units that become available annually is between 380 and 400, according to the NRHA.
Chesapeake Manor residents might qualify for help with their first month's rent and security deposits, said Claudia Gooch, director of community planning and development for the Planning Council, a nonprofit, regional agency based in Norfolk. She said she would contact the complex's management to make the agency's services available to residents.
Property owner Copeland said he could not be more specific about timing for further demolitions other than to say they could occur any time between 30 days and two years from Wednesday.
He said he didn't know why residents were moving out before receiving notices of demolition.
``I wish I knew,'' he said. ``No one has been asked to leave.''
A $100 moving fee will be given each tenant who asks for it when he or she moves out after receiving a 90-day notice, Copeland said, adding that he is ``making sure that there are places nearby with comparable rents for them to move to.''
Connie McKan has already moved. On Thursday, the single welfare mother was back to gather her few remaining belongings. She's found an apartment on Little Creek Road but isn't sure she'll be able to pay the higher rent. She was paying $295 for a two-bedroom, and her new one-bedroom is $315.
``It don't make sense,'' said McKan, 22. ``There are a lot of old people out here. They could have fixed it up.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
TAMARA VONINSKI
The Virginian-Pilot
LEFT: These broken windows mark one of the now-deserted units at
Chesapeake Manor.
BELOW: Adrienne Dameron, 16, left, and Anika Sykes, 14, talk with
Frank Smith, 14, who moved away last week and came back to visit
them.
A water heater broke in this vacant apartment and had been flooding
the lower floor for two days.
VP MAP
TORN DOWN
Private, low-income apartments demolished in past two decades;
what was built in their place:
Norfolk
Robin Hood: 1,483; Norfolk Commerce Park
Lakeland: 700; upscale apartments, businesses
Lafayette Shores: 644; single-family homes
Marshall Manor, 204 units; still undeveloped
Chesapeake
Campostella Square - 828 units, in demolition process
Total units demolished: 3,859