NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Residents at Stuart Gardens Apartments in Newport News will soon be walking in to modernized units thanks to a $10 million project to upgrade the complex courtesy of the federal Green and Resilient Retrofit Program.
“Wonderful," said Marie Stith, a Stuart Gardens resident. "That’s a godsend."
Marie Stith has lived there for 30 years. She said the renovations are not just important for current residents, but future ones as well.
“When I’m dead and gone, I’m 91, the young can come in and have a place to live and raise their kids," she explained.
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Virginia U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott and representatives from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, the city of Newport News, and Vitus, the company that owns the complex, made the announcement at the complex Thursday.
“Some of the improvements include all new Energy Star-certified appliances, windows, insulated entry doors, LED lighting, heat pumps, and much more," said Vitus Senior Asset Manager Marlene Campos.
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Stuart Gardens Apartments is one of several projects nationwide HUD announced Thursday that would be receiving more than $73 million through the program.
That makes Newport News the third city in Virginia to have received money from the program. Charlottesville and Fredricksburg previously received funding.
“The GRRP will ensure that these homes will be safer and more sustainable, preserving the much-needed affordable housing in all of these communities for years to come," HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs Ethan Handelman said.
Marie Stith was looking forward to having work done on her windows.
“The windows need to be tightened," she said.
“With all these new upgrades, all the units will receive at least a 25% reduction in energy consumption,” Campos said.
Work at the complex could start later this year and is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
