Richmond Better Housing Coalition opens Winchester Greens

The Richmond Better Housing Coalition opened the first phase of Winchester Greens, an 84-acre new urbanist development built for moderate income residents. The first 100 townhomes are renting for $475 to $620, according to T.K. Samanath of the coalition. The units are being rented to households earning up to 80 percent of the median income in the Richmond, Virginia, metropolitan area. In addition to townhomes, the project will include single homes, a child care center, shops, and homes for retirees. The site was previously occupied by a failed 420-unit low-income apartment complex, which was foreclosed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and sold to the coalition. The first phase was financed by a $5.8 million bond issued by the Chesterfield County (VA) Industrial Development Authority. HUD also contributed $13.8 million, and the county kicked in $800,000 in block grants. Winchester Greens was designed by Rose Architects, the Planning and Design Collaborative, and Timmons (engineering), with consulting help from Urban Design Associates.