Grace Place apartment rehab moving forward as housing authority and developer close on ground lease
The rehab of a long-dilapidated apartment building downtown is moving forward.
This month, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and affordable housing developer People Restoring Communities closed on a ground lease for the Grace Place Apartments at 400 East Grace Street.
Under the agreement, PRC paid roughly $4.9 million to the housing authority, which will retain ownership of the 11-story, century-old property.
Renovations to transform the building into 68 affordable housing units for seniors are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2027 and last 18 months. Of those, 57 would be one-bedroom units and 11 would be studios. An additional one-bedroom apartment would also be constructed for an on-site superintendent.
All units besides the superintendent’s would be earmarked for seniors with an income of 50% or less than the area median income, an amount calculated by the federal government. In Richmond, 50% of AMI for a single person this year is $39,750.
Sarah Vogelsong
The project “represents an important opportunity to bring a long-vacant property back into productive use while expanding access to quality affordable housing for seniors in downtown Richmond,” said Matthew Linde, PRC’s principal and CEO.
Richmond’s housing authority took control of the Grace Place apartments in late 2022 after city inspectors found serious building code violations and condemned the building, forcing the displacement of dozens of low-income residents. Days after RRHA took over the building, a pipe burst, causing additional damage.
At the time, housing authority CEO Steven Nesmith told Richmond BizSense that “a total gutting of the entire building” was required.
From the outset, RRHA said it did not intend to revamp Grace Place into public housing but instead would work with a developer to make units available using project-based vouchers, formerly known as Section 8 vouchers.
Progress on the project has been slow. In February 2025, the housing authority’s Board of Commissioners authorized RRHA to enter into a memo of understanding with PRC and the Delaine Companies to go ahead with the redevelopment. The board also greenlit the authority to execute a master development agreement with the companies in October 2025.
“Although this project has taken a long time, it was important to follow the legal processes, and in the end, the agency is executing on its mission of ‘Building Communities and Changing Lives,’” Nesmith said in a statement last week.
Most of the $37 million needed for the project has been secured, with a $6.25 million funding gap remaining. Angela Fountain, a spokesperson for RRHA, said the housing authority has applied for $1.25 million from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta’s Affordable Housing Program and $5 million from Virginia’s Affordable and Special Needs Housing program to fill that gap.
A large part of the financing comes from an $11 million conduit bond issued by RRHA and approved by the City Council. That is expected to close in December; Fountain said no further approvals are required.
Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org
