NORFOLK, Va. — Two Norfolk public housing neighborhoods, Calvert Square and Young Terrace, are getting torn down and reimagined. Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) has initiated the planning process to redevelop those areas.
The buildings, which were constructed in the 50s, are past their useful life according to the city and the NRHA.
"They're very hard to maintain, so there's a natural need to upgrade or replace these units, so through that process it allows us to again look at, you know, look at the land, look at the use, look what we can really do," said Nathan Simms, NRHA executive director.
Calvert Square and Young Terrace are two remaining neighborhoods to be re-imagined into mixed-use, mixed-income spaces as part of the St. Paul's Transformation Project.
As part of that project, Tidewater Gardens was demolished in 2020. That originally stirred up controversy when displaced groups sued and claimed the project unfairly impacted them.
In Feb. 2024, residents were able to move back into the new Tidewater Gardens development, now called Kindred.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to go from where I was at to where everything's brand new," former Tidewater Gardens resident Cassandra Miller told News 3 last February when she moved into Kindred.
NRHA's now in the planning phase for redevelopment of Young Terrace and Calvert Square. A preliminary timeline was discussed during a Board of Commissioners meeting last Thursday. It includes selecting a developer and eventually submitting an application for phased demolition.
On Sunday, Simms told News 3 that the process for Calvert Square and Young Terrace should be different than what the city saw with Tidewater Gardens. He emphasized a number of efforts meant to minimize displacement concerns for the roughly 2,000 people who live in the two neighborhoods.
"It's a build-first concept in terms of where we're moving," said Simms. "But it's also an opportunity to connect our residents to various types of opportunities that can help them."
He said though they're in the planning phase now, they'll be actively helping residents with workforce, financial, and health programming throughout the process. That's as they move towards a goal of a first build in 2027 and completion in 2028 or 2029.
"And we encourage people to be engaged. I mean it's not something that's baked in terms of what the vision is. I think we start with some core fundamentals of what we want to see and I think it's up to our residents and all our stakeholders frankly to help fill in that concept," said Simms.
There will be a number of meetings held for community input.
To kick things off, a community forum is scheduled for 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Scope, weather permitting.
UPDATE (2/18/25 at 3:30 p.m.) - NRHA announced Wednesday's forum will be postponed due to expected weather.
