Local Habitat for Humanity asks to buy 11 city properties in Northside to build affordable homes

Richmond is considering selling off 11 unused properties to the local Habitat for Humanity for the purpose of constructing affordable housing there. 

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission will consider whether the sale is a good idea before the proposal moves on to City Council for a final decision. 

In April 2024, the Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity sent the city an unsolicited offer of $100,000 for 11 lots near the former Albert V. Norrell School on the city’s Northside to develop for sale to low- and moderate-income families. 

The Southern Barton Heights properties include eight parcels in the 1900 and 2000 blocks of Greenwood Avenue, two parcels in the 2000 block of Joshua Street and 2001 Fendall Ave. 

Richmond Habitat, which has done extensive work throughout the region building and rehabilitating homes, estimates it will cost $182,520 to construct each roughly 1,080 square foot house and indicated it plans to develop some for families earning between 50% and 80% of the area median income and others for those earning between 80% and 120%.

This year, the federal government calculated 80% AMI for the Richmond region to be $63,600 for one person, $72,650 for two people and $90,800 for a family of four. 

The project “will create momentum for further investment in the community to benefit the people who already live within the community,” wrote Richmond Habitat’s then-CEO Madelyn Peay in the offer letter. 

All of the parcels Habitat is eyeing are currently vacant and have been designated as surplus land by the city.

"We are always excited about the opportunity to build more affordable housing in Richmond," said Lauren Marshall, the group’s director of marketing and communications. "We look forward to Tuesday's Planning Commission meeting."

If City Council signs off on the idea, the project will join two other major efforts underway in the neighborhood. 

Less than a mile away, nonprofit Eden Homes is looking to develop a community of tiny homes for chronically homeless people. The organization acquired 3 acres of surplus city land for the project earlier this year. 

Further east, a coalition of local nonprofits led by the Better Housing Coalition is developing the second phase of the Highland Grove project, which will build 125 new single family homes earmarked for sale, half of which will be reserved for people making up to 120% of AMI. Richmond has put millions toward the effort, which has already produced 128 rental units and sits on a site that was once home to the Dove Court public housing community and a National Guard armory.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org