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Bay Aging: Residences at Raleigh Park ‘shovel‑ready’ but faces multimillion‑dollar funding gap
Summary
Bay Aging and consultants told the board the workforce housing project has completed designs and is ready for construction but rising costs and pending awards leave a funding gap of several million dollars; a new VHDA pilot loan gives ‘ray of hope’ but failure of pending grants could end the project.
Bay Aging officials told the board that the Residences at Raleigh Park workforce housing project has completed design and permitting work and is ready to move to construction — but rising building costs and incomplete funding leave a multi‑million dollar financing gap.
“Plans are done. Everything is completed. So we are just waiting on funding for construction,” Alan Walker, assistant director for multifamily housing at Bay Aging, said. He and Kathy Vesley, Bay Aging’s CEO, described a lengthy effort to assemble public and foundation funds and said the overall construction estimate has risen from earlier bids to roughly $6.5 million in current estimates.
Consultant Neil Barber reviewed the finance plan and said the project currently has approximately $3.0 million committed and an estimated $3.5 million shortfall. Barber advised continuing to pursue pending applications — including a recent invitation to apply for a Virginia Housing rural workforce pilot loan — and said if pending awards are not funded in the next several months the developer should consider relinquishing sponsorship or pursuing a fundamentally different approach.
Bay Aging and consultants described multiple pending and planned applications (Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development grant rounds, foundation applications, and a VHDA pilot program) and stressed timing: some awards would have to be used before August 2026 or risk being rescinded.
Board members asked about alternatives, including phasing the project, modular or tiny‑house approaches, private partnerships and possible county loans or EDA support. Bay Aging said it has evaluated modular and tiny‑home options and that changing the building footprint would trigger new engineering, stormwater and site work that can add time and cost. Staff agreed to continue pursuing the pending awards and to explore local partnership or financing options where feasible.
No county appropriation or commitment was made at the meeting.
