Lynchburg City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request from Rush Homes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing to low-income residents and individuals with disabilities, to build a new housing complex off Florida Avenue. The proposed 48-unit housing complex, called Carolyn’s Place, will be located on about six acres of land across Florida Avenue from the Jubilee Family Center. Misjuns The News & Advance file “I’m familiar with Rush Homes’ properties.
You guys have a great reputation,” At-large Councilman Martin Misjuns said at the council’s Aug. 13 meeting. “This is an area that could use some development that we know is going to be well-maintained and taken care of.
” Misjuns also said there’s a need for the new homes planned by Rush Homes, adding, “I think this is going to be an easy one” for city councilmembers to approve. Wilder Paige Dingler, The News & Advance file Ward II Councilman Sterling Wilder agreed with Misjuns, saying Rush Homes does an amazing job in building homes in the community. “All their projects are so well-kept.
They’re beautiful designs,” Wilder said. “I definitely understand the need for more affordable housing, especially for people with disabilities and on low incomes.” The city council then voted 7-0 to approve the rezoning request submitted by Rush Homes.
Rush Homes, founded 28 years ago, owns and operates more than 150 housing units in Lynchburg and Amherst County. “Rush Homes would like to extend our gratitude to the City Council for their leadership and to the community members who voiced their support for this essential initiative,” Tracey Ballagh, executive director of Rush Homes, said in a statement emailed to The News & Advance. “Together, we are building a city where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
” Ballagh said Rush Homes has an “ongoing commitment to addressing the growing need for affordable housing within our community” and that the council’s approval of the rezoning request “is a critical step forward in our broader strategy to ensure that this often-underserved population will have access to safe, accessible and affordable housing.” Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts The proposed housing complex, called Carolyn’s Place, will be named after Carolyn Haase, a Lynchburg resident who left her house on New Hampshire Avenue as a gift to Rush Homes when she died. “We desire to turn her gift of one home into 48 homes and call it Carolyn’s Place,” Ballagh told councilmembers at the Aug.
13 meeting. After learning of her terminal breast cancer diagnosis, according to Ballagh, Haase moved to a home that offered her better mobility accessibility, made necessary by her progressing condition. “It was through these experiences that Carolyn told us she understood more than ever the need for accessible housing for people with disabilities,” she said.
The rezoning decision by city council allowed the parcels of land at 1015 Pinehurst St. and 1019 Pinehurst St., where Carolyn’s Place will be built, to be changed from R-3 Medium Density Residential to R-4C High Density Residential.
Along with the housing units, the complex will include parking and a community center for the tenants. The residences will consist of duplex-style, quad-plex style and townhouse-style units. Construction of the new housing project will consist of two phases.
The first phase would include eight units developed for people coming out of homelessness, according to Rush Homes. Phase two would include construction of 40 housing units. Rush Homes has not provided a timeline for completion of the two phases.
A bus stop for residents of the new complex is located nearby, at the corner of Greenfield Drive and Florida Avenue. The opening of Florida Terrace apartments on Florida Avenue on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.
Paige Dingler, The News & Advance file In February, Rush Homes opened a 31-unit complex called Florida Terrace, a short drive from the proposed Carolyn’s Place complex off Florida Avenue. Among Rush Homes’ other properties are Armstrong Place, Victoria Ridge, Old Forest Village and Phelps Road. Each Rush Home housing complex includes a resident services coordinator, who assists with education, coordination of services and recreation for residents.
The housing nonprofit also partners with Miriam’s House, a local nonprofit whose employees work closely with Rush Homes’ resident services coordinators to keep people housed. Residents of Rush Homes properties are typically at or below 60% of the area median income. Rush Homes currently has a waiting list of more than 300 low-income people and people with disabilities who need housing in the area.
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