With Southwood, Habitat continues expansion

There’s a new player in the development market looking to become major: Habitat for Humanity. The local chapter of the nonprofit Christian housing builder stepped into the development market last year with the purchase of Sunrise Trailer Park in lower Belmont, a property currently housing 21 families, and stepped up its game dramatically with a recent contract on Southwood Mobile Home Estates, which currently has 371 trailers on 100 acres near Old Lynchburg Road.
    “We’re going to create a new national model,” says Habitat Executive Director Overton McGehee. “Currently when trailer parks get developed, the people get displaced. We’re trying to create mixed-income communities that include affordable housing for the people who have lived there. We’ll learn a lot at Sunrise and then move on to Southwood.”
    For the Sunrise property, which is located near Carlton Avenue, Habitat has hired architectural and land planning firms based on a competition sponsored jointly by Habitat and the Charlottesville Community Design Center. So far, all 21 Sunrise families are on board with Habitat, which hopes to apply to the City for property rezoning by next year.
    Both the Sunrise and Southwood projects share a goal of offering several tiers of affordable housing (that is, homes priced at about $80,000), with some market value housing (which would be priced closer to appraisal). McGehee notes, however, that the primary goal is to create affordable housing for those already living on the properties.
    Southwood is currently owned by Jennie Sue Minor, who contacted Habitat specifically so that the current tenants could remain. “She certainly had other avenues,” says Scott Minor, her son and property manager. “There would be a lot of other people interested in the property, particularly since it’s in the Albemarle County growth area.”
    Habitat acquired a six-month contract to study the site with various consultants and staff while also working to raise $2.3 million for a down payment. If all goes according to plan, Habitat will purchase the property for an undisclosed amount by the end of the year, though building would remain years away. “We want to make sure we do it right,” says McGehee.
    Even the comparatively modest Sunrise project is huge for a group that typically has built six to eight houses a year. McGehee says that Habitat has been planning for an expansion: buying land, increasing staff and beefing up the volunteer base. This year, they plan to build 16 to 18 houses, and next year have plans for 20.