RICHMOND, Va. — The transformation of a Northside neighborhood anchor is nearly complete, as the renovated Highland Park Public School building welcomes its first residents this week as low-income apartments for seniors.
Firms behind the new Highland Park Senior Apartments at 1221 E. Brookland Park Blvd. provided a look last week inside the restored century-old building. It now houses 77 one-bedroom apartments that will be used to relocate residents from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Frederick A. Fay Towers near Gilpin Court.
The $11.4 million project is the first of three planned to move a total of 200 residents from the towers, which are being eyed for redevelopment. It’s also the first project in Richmond for Washington, D.C.-based developer Community Preservation and Development Corp., which is working with the RRHA on the projects.
The other two projects are Jackson Place, a 75-unit mixed-use and senior housing development planned along Second Street in Jackson Ward, and a redevelopment of the Baker School at 100 W. Baker St. into 48 apartments for seniors. CPDC closed on those properties in 2013 and is aiming to bring them to market in 2019.