STEPS signs real estate purchase agreement in Israel Hill
Published on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 3:17 AM
It’s been a busy few months for STEPS. The nonprofit just last month reopened Madeline’s House, a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter. Now, the group has completed another long-term project with the formal purchase of the Israel Hill property.
“The purchase is complete and we are the proud owners of 48.6 acres!” STEPS President and CEO Sharon Harrup told the Herald last week.
Speaking at a town hall meeting hosted by Prince Edward Superintendent Dr. Odessa Pride at Hampden-Sydney College in September, Harrap provided a little more detail about both the land purchase and the ultra-long-term plan.
“We were blessed that the Sedgwick family donated over $300,000 to purchase the property,” Harrap said at the meeting. “We then received a grant from Centra Health to pay for the rest.”
The property is located off Lane Street in Farmville on the west side of town. It’s called Israel Hill because it’s where 90 former slaves were granted freedom and 350 acres of land to settle in 1810. It was called Israel Hill because the residents treated it like a promised land, said Kynan Townsend, director of the Morton Museum.
Currently, STEPS officials believe that several projects may be implemented on the land. But at the City Hall meeting, Harrap emphasized that most, if not all, of these will take decades to develop. In fact, most of it will not be completed in her lifetime, she added.
“Years after I’m gone, there will probably be supportive housing built and residential homes for people who were homeless,” Harrap said. “There will probably be some market-rate housing.”
Current Israel Hill Project
These are all visions of where she wants the project to go. However, there is one property STEPS plans to work on at this time, and that is an apartment complex. One apartment complex with 60 to 80 units will be built on the site. that’s it. Second, when it comes to who will move in, STEPS officials note that there are many homeless residents here who need help. According to the data, from July 1, 2023 to date, STEPS has assisted 75 families, including a total of 173 people, in this six-county area. STEPS officials say the residents they want to help already live here, already send their children to school here, and will use fire and police services as needed, so there will be no extra strain on local infrastructure. claims.
And now we will tell you in detail what the complex is. Something like this has never really been done before in Farmville or throughout the region, which raises questions and concerns.
The goal here is to build a $24 million “supportive housing” complex. Supportive housing is designed as affordable housing to help get homeless individuals and families off the streets. But it’s more than just a little bit. The concept also provides services to help homeless residents get back on their feet. We’re talking about case management. We work with individuals to help them deal with things like scheduling appointments and pre-planning rent payments. It also includes job and life skills training to help residents understand time management, cooking, budgeting, and more.
next step
Neighbors of the property have expressed concerns about its location, limited access to public transport and the lack of jobs for residents after training. STEPS officials said this is a long-term project and not all questions have been answered yet. They still have to raise funds to design and build a supportive housing complex. That’s the next step.
The company aims to apply for low-income housing tax credits in March 2025. Companies finance projects and receive tax credits in return. These investors can claim a deduction on their federal taxes, but there’s a catch. Credits cannot be used until the project is placed in service. This essentially acts as a federal subsidy for the development of low-income housing.
