HRHA outlines Bluestone Town Center build plan, voucher use and downtown renovation projects

Michael, HRHA staff, told the Harrisonburg- HRHA liaison committee on July 25 that the agency has secured most infrastructure financing for the Bluestone Town Center development and expects to start construction after final closings.

The project team has “received about $11,000,000 in state housing trust funds, HOME funds, and also a $1,000,000 allocation grant award from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta,” Michael said. He said the initial residential phase will include roughly 100 townhomes (targeted to first-time buyers at 60%–120% of area median income as proposed), about 35 single-family homes, 63 senior housing units and 83 multifamily units. HRHA staff said construction could begin this fall once infrastructure and other financing close.

Why it matters: The project is one of the largest HRHA-led development efforts discussed at the meeting and combines homeownership and rental units intended to serve first-time buyers, seniors and lower-income renters. Committee members pressed staff for specifics on eligibility, voucher placement and timing given long public waiting lists and uncertainty in federal housing funding.

HRHA staff said they will ask the planning commission in September and expect a city council review in October for required parcel modifications and approvals. The agency also described an agreement with a national homebuilder to construct the for-sale townhomes; the…