As Richmond City Council finalizes the FY2022 budget, the city’s public housing authority is asking for help getting a development off the ground.
Richmond Redevelopment and Public Housing Authority will tear down Creighton Court this fall in anticipation of a new housing development. The agency is asking city hall for $6.8 million to make infrastructure improvements ahead of construction.
But unless city council amends the proposed 2022 budget it’s unlikely the project will get started.
Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch says the budget is tight because of the pandemic, but this development is important.
“[It’s] not going to be a fun or easy process,” Lynch said. “We’re really going to have to dig in deep. But we need to find the funding.”
Creighton Court is Richmond’s second largest public housing community and is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the region.
“The buildings and the land are in awful condition,” Lynch said. “So there are a lot of residents who I think really are looking forward to those changes and that type of improvement.”
Many Creighton Court residents have already relocated, but the remaining families are still working with RRHA to move.
Councilman Mike Jones seemed less optimistic that the city would find the money in budget.
“To say it’s tight is an understatement,” Jones said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Levar Stoney said the city’s pandemic-era budget has “neither the debt capacity nor the general fund revenue” to pay for this project.
“We are actively reviewing the opportunities provided by the American Rescue Plan to fund additional priorities, and while no decisions have been made by the mayor and council, funding affordable housing and housing transformation will be one of the top priorities the mayor and council discuss,” Nolan said.
