Albemarle County awarded federal funding for sewer work at Southwood

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park is well underway but both the organization and Albemarle County continue to seek funding to help cover aspects of a project intended to prevent displacement of existing residents.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded Albemarle County $2 million in Community Development Block Grants to extend sewer lines into a portion of the existing mobile home community to serve over five dozen units.

“Currently, the proposed 63 homes are being served by outdated, inadequate septic systems, which are expensive to maintain,” reads an information release sent out on February 12. “Newly installed sewer lines will be adopted into the public sewer system managed by the Albemarle County Service Authority.”

Habitat for Humanity bought the land in 2007 and spent many years working with existing residents to come up with a plan. Development is taking part in two phases with the second on the original footprint of the mobile home park.

In late 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Habitat $29.1 million from the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement program. According to the release, this $2 million is contingent on HUD approval.

• Take a look at the Action Plan for the PRICE grant

“The Office of Housing partners with nonprofits and private residential developers to apply for federal CDBG funding for residential construction projects that provide at least 51 percent of the total residential units as affordable housing,” the release continues.

I checked in with Habitat to get a sense of what has been built so far. This is what I got back:

• Village 1 is now complete. It includes 35 Habitat homes, 14 Habitat Affordable Rentals, and 31 Market-rate Homes) – 80 Total
• Village 2 is underway, with completion anticipated for March of this year. (25 Habitat homes, 23 Market-rate Homes) – 48 Total
• Village 3 now underway with 3 new foundations in the ground. It will contain 52 Habitat homes. (Village 3 is the first of Phase II)

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