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Norfolk selected as finalist for choice neighborhoods initiative grant

Posted at 5:06 PM, Feb 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-03 17:07:12-05

A view of downtown Norfolk Virginia skyline along the Waterside District and Town Point Park.

NORFOLK, Va. – The city of Norfolk has been chosen for individual grants that provide $30 million for redevelopment within the city.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the City of Norfolk have been selected as a finalist for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Grant.

HUD received 32 grant applications and selected four applicants as finalists for the individual grants of $30 million.

NRHA and the City of Norfolk applied for funding to support the transformation of the St. Paul’s Area in September 2018. The St. Paul’s Area is more than 200 acres which contains three public housing communities and is subject to extensive flooding.

Norfolk’s transformation plan includes parallel efforts of both people and place.

“HUD’s decision validates the innovative work Norfolk is doing to create coastal community of the future. We are strengthening our neighborhoods, we are safe. Crime is at a 32-year low. Our evolving waterfront city is among the most multi-modal and connected cities in the country and we are building on a growing and diverse economy,” said Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander.

The grant funding will redevelop the St. Paul’s Area from a community with the largest concentration of poverty in the region, to a mixed-use, mixed-income, sustainable neighborhood.

The plan seeks to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by investing first in residents with supportive services around housing, employment, education and health and wellness programs.

Physically, it creates a system of parks, open space and streets to manage storm water and flooding while providing the neighborhood with recreational, cultural and educational amenities; connects the community to educational and cultural assets in the region and builds social capital along improved neighborhood streets; provides a wide range of housing types with the intention to invigorate community streets with shops, medical, cultural and social services, including an innovative “HUB” facility bringing together new and existing organizations in an accessible facility.

For information on St. Paul’s Area click here.