By Paige Gance
Sometimes the most essential individuals in a community – police officers, firefighters and teachers – cannot afford to buy a home where they work.
That will change with Thompson’s Knoll, where a private developer, Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity and Threshold, the city’s housing board, will build a new Lexington neighborhood from the ground up.
The 24 houses being planned for the 4.4-acre site would have access from North Lewis and Smith streets. The property is located by Richardson Park and Lylburn Downing Middle School atop a wooded knoll that affords panoramic views of the countryside.
“We don’t have affordable housing in Lexington,” said Joan Neel, a member of Threshold who worked closely with the surrounding community. She said older homes tend to have a lower price tag but end up costing more in repairs.
To help launch the project, the state of Virginia awarded Lexington a $700,000 federal community block grant this summer to fund land acquisition and infrastructure.
The grant will not be used for construction of the actual units. This will be the responsibility of each developer.
Habitat has committed to building a minimum of four houses on the site.
Thom Gill, chair of the building and lands committee for Habitat, said that his organization would target those earning 25-60 percent of the median income on a sliding scale from individuals to large families. Those applying for a Habitat home need a reasonable credit history and source of income.
Threshold will also build at least four homes and target those earning 60-80 percent of the median income.
Thompson’s Knoll Development LLC, the private-sector developer, will be responsible for the remaining 16 homes. Heidi Schweizer and her brother, Bruce Schweizer, who own the land, are the partners in this company.
Lexington planning director Bill Blatter said that if all goes well, construction on the housing would begin in early spring.
The criteria for the state grant allow four of the privately developed units to be sold at market rate and the rest at 80 percent or less than median income.
The median income for a four-person family in 2010 was $57,800 for the Rockbridge County area.
Heidi Schweizer said that the universities’ salaries elevate the median income for the area, which affects home prices.
Vicky Turner, a member of Threshold, agrees that people on the payrolls of Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute push up housing values. The two schools “throw everything off kilter.”
The problem, she said, is that existing houses in Lexington are pegged to the affluent.
Destination: Lexington
Melissa McDonald, 56, has dreamed of living in Lexington for more than 30 years, ever since she began dating a VMI cadet.
A local bank just approved McDonald for a $40,000 mortgage, but she said she couldn’t find anything in Lexington to purchase for less than $80,000. Right now, she lives in the R.E. Lee building and receives an income of $1,001 per month from Social Security disability insurance.
She just applied for a Habitat home and falls into the target range of 25-60 percent of the median income. If approved, she said Thompson’s Knoll had many of the charms she wanted. It affords mountain views, enough room to plant a garden, green common space, and low energy costs because of its “green” focus.
“Nice neighbors is a big concern, too, though,” said McDonald.
The accessibility to downtown Lexington is also an important factor, she said, as she has not given up on finding a job. The site is just over half mile from Lexington’s downtown shopping district.
Neighbors skeptical–at first
Threshold member Neel described the changing attitudes of the neighbors around the development this way: “Wary, strongly opposed, then reassured, now accepting.
Initial fears of a subsidized housing project and the unsavory occupants associated with that were alleviated during a three-day public workshop two years ago, said Richard Price, an architect and planning consultant.
At the community meetings, Price explained the concept of workforce housing – the idea of specially priced homes for people employed in the city or with another steady income, who nonetheless cannot afford to live in Lexington.
Residents seemed open to the idea of workforce and mixed-income housing, said Price.
Schweizer said the last community meeting about a month ago was sparsely attended, which she felt indicated a lack of concern or complaints on the part of residents because many of the original problems have been addressed.
One complaint was that residents of High Street did not want their dead end extended to North Lewis Street. Schweizer said the development had a legal right to do this but amended the plans so that only a walkway will connect High Street to the new street through Thompson’s Knoll.
Going green without the breaking the bank
Residents also worried that stormwater runoff would create sewer problems and flooding in the area, but the developers already had a solution in mind.
The most emphasized “green” feature for Thompson’s Knoll is the elimination of stormwater runoff through inexpensive “rain gardens.” These gardens draw water back into the soil, instead of allowing it to flow over the ground collecting pollutants before it reaches the Maury River watershed.
A “green” development has been the approach from day one, said Price. “But combining affordability and eco-friendliness can be a challenge.”
Each house will conform to green building guidelines, and the cost of compliance will factor into the choice of which guidelines to use. The two most common green building certifications are internationally-recognized LEED and the more regional EarthCraft.
A green building certification involves factors like indoor air quality, energy and water efficiency, sustainable building materials and waste management.
Vision to reality
The development of Thompson’s Knoll has been many years in the making, said Neel. The project still needs the recommendation of the city planning commission and the approval of city council.
She said that the turning point came when Bruce Schweizer purchased the land, since he and his sister had knowledge and experience as developers.
Then the city, Habitat, and the Schweizers joined forces to transform their vision into a reality.
And even though three different entities are developing the site, passersby will not be able to distinguish who built what house, said Neel. “They’ll be unified but not cookie-cutter.”
Heidi Schweizer is working on design guidelines that will prevent glaring inconsistencies among the homes.
The current plans call for a variety of housing types, from traditional single-family homes to a cluster of cottages around a common green space. A condo-like structure is also being considered, said Schweizer.
The city defines this project as a Planned Unit Development, which needs approval from city council. The planned lot sizes are smaller than allowed without special permission, but the overall density of the development meets city standards once green space is included.
The city will approve or reject the project as a whole, not by individual lots.