> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Planning Commission balks at plan to convert affordable West End apartments into high-end townhouses - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/planning-commission-balks-at-plan-to-convert-affordable-west-end-apartments-into-high-end-townhouses/ - Published: 2026-09-21T09:50:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-21T09:50:39.000Z - Description: “This is not what the city of Richmond needs,” said Commissioner Rebecca Rowe. - Author: Sarah Vogelsong - Tags: Housing, #the-bridge A plan to demolish an 18-unit apartment building with “naturally occurring” affordable housing in the Westhampton neighborhood and replace it with eight high-end townhouses that could include accessory units provoked unease and some outright opposition from Richmond’s Planning Commission Tuesday. “This is not what the city of Richmond needs,” said Commissioner Rebecca Rowe. Among the concerns raised was whether the project aligns with the city’s master plan, which among its many goals aims to expand housing opportunities and prevent displacement. Richmond’s Planning Department staff had recommended approval of a special use permit for the project, concluding it was consistent with the land use the master plan envisions for the area. But Bo Fairlamb, an architect who has been active in a number of West End zoning cases and was the sole citizen to speak out against the proposal, questioned that determination: “Why, in a time when we’ve said we need more housing units and affordable housing in all neighborhoods, would Planning recommend this SUP when it does neither?” he asked in a conversation with The Richmonder. With several members expressing their intent to recommend denial of the project, the commission offered developer Center Creek Homes more time to rework the plans. Consideration of the project will be deferred to the body’s Oct. 20 meeting. Greg Shron, Center Creek’s chief operating officer, pitched the project at 5706 York Rd. as a necessary replacement of a 1960s-era building that he said had reached the end of its life. While the structure has 18 units, he said the owner has been letting leases expire in anticipation of selling the property, with about a dozen residents remaining six months ago. He acknowledged that the company’s plans would remove existing affordable units and replace them with more expensive housing. “You can’t deny that,” he said, pointing out the surrounding neighborhood is one of Richmond’s most expensive and redevelopment is likely to occur. “But,” he continued, “I would sort of encourage anyone who is concerned about that building to walk through it and see the caliber of housing that is currently being provided in that building. It’s not somewhere you would want your friend, your mother or your child to live currently.” Planning Director Kevin Vonck said he had only one record of a code violation at the building, involving a leaky valve for a gas range. After the displacement concern was raised several months ago, Center Creek revised its plans to allow homeowners in six of the eight townhomes the option of converting part of the first floor of the house to a 360 square foot accessory dwelling unit. The small size of those apartments — which Shron said was consistent with “a New York micro-unit” — would all but guarantee affordability, Shron contended. “My understanding of the market is that a studio size unit like that would be naturally affordable,” he said. “The kind of strategy that has been successful in bringing naturally affordable housing to expensive real estate submarkets is make them compact and therefore it naturally drives down price.” But Commissioners Victor McKenzie, Dakia Knight and Ellen Robertson, who also represents Richmond’s 6th District on City Council, expressed skepticism about the likelihood of the ADUs actually being built, given that the special use permit under consideration would only allow but not require the construction of the smaller units. “At the end of the day it’s very much dependent on a homeowner to opt in and then decide that is the best use compared to something else,” said McKenzie. Others questioned whether even those homeowners who did choose to have an ADU on their ground floor would rent it out for long-term occupancy or opt to run it as a short-term rental. “Without it being a condition of the ordinance, I just don’t want us to give illusions of affordability versus actual affordability built in,” said Robertson. [In Richmond, what is ‘affordable’ housing?Some elected officials have long complained that wealthier, more populous counties within the Richmond metro area skew the AMI and put low-income city residents at a disadvantage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1-7c70cb4f-dc90-477d-8b5e-adfca4e1810d.png)The RichmonderSarah Vogelsong![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/thumbnail/Richmonder_Finance_Texture_040825-f1df8970-bee6-4ceb-9951-68236eda51c0.jpg)](https://www.richmonder.org/in-richmond-what-is-affordable-housing/) ### **Master plan** The lot under consideration is currently zoned “urban business,” a designation that doesn’t allow single family attached homes by right. As a result, Center Creek has to get a special use permit to go ahead with its plans. Under the planned citywide rezoning being considered by the City Council, the York Road property would be designated MX-3, a district that would permit mixed-use buildings up to three stories high. While aimed at encouraging a combination of commercial and multifamily uses, that district would allow single family townhomes by right. Shron argued it would be preferable for the Planning Commission to move the project forward now rather than delay it until the rezoning potentially went into effect. (While the Planning Commission only makes recommendations to the City Council, which makes the final decision on special use permits, those recommendations carry significant weight with councilors.) If denied now, “the chances of getting any measure of affordability effectively go to zero” in the future, Shron said. “I’m not sure what the motivation would be for just letting this sort of go to market next year when the zoning will allow someone to put 12 million-dollar houses without asking anyone for permission,” he said. The remarks appeared to rub at least one commissioner the wrong way, with Rowe telling the developer shortly after, “I didn’t love the attitude of some of your comments.” Fairlamb insisted the proposal “is totally contrary to the goals of Richmond 300,” and to goals repeatedly stated by city officials including Mayor Danny Avula to produce more affordable apartments and discourage displacement of existing residents. Throughout almost two years’ of meetings on the proposed code refresh, he told the Planning Commission, “not once have I heard anybody say we need more million-dollar homes. Haven’t heard it. And not once have I heard anybody say we need fewer dwelling units in the city.” While the third draft of the code refresh would permit the townhomes to be built by right, numerous commissioners appeared uncomfortable with the idea of greenlighting a project that would displace residents and reduce affordable stock. Rowe said she “fully agree(d) that no one is saying we need more $1.5 million homes.” Saying he meant to vote against the proposal, Commissioner Burt Pinnock concluded that “the intent of everything we’ve put forth with Richmond 300 and beyond is what is on this site today.” He pointed in particular to a comment left by someone identifying as a current resident of the building on [a Richmond BizSense article](https://richmondbizsense.com/2026/01/14/infill-homebuilder-to-replace-libbie-grove-apartment-building-with-new-1m-townhouses/) about an earlier version of the proposal. “I currently live in this building and work at one of the bars on Grove,” read the comment by “Wally Smith.” “Many people who live here work in this Westhampton area and do not have cars to transport ourselves elsewhere. I imagine most of us will lose our jobs. I’ve lived here for 3 years and it’s devastating to remember all the memories made here, only to realize my basement apartment will turn into a 2 car garage.” That statement “spoke volumes,” said Pinnock. Reached several days after the vote to delay consideration of the proposal until Oct. 20, Shron said he intends to “go back to the drawing board and continue to consult with the community” in light of the commission’s feedback. “I’m going to put my creative hat back on and proverbially roll up my sleeves … and try to come up with something that’s going to get through the SUP process,” he said. *Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at* [*svogelsong@richmonder.org*](mailto:svogelsong@richmonder.org)