Choice Neighborhoods Initiative

The City, in conjunction with the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NNRHA), was awarded a 2016 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) Planning Grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Choice Neighborhoods is an initiative that targets distressed public or assisted housing that needs to be revitalized or replaced and provides a comprehensive approach to neighborhood change. The specific public housing complex identified for this grant by NNRHA was the 259-unit Ridley Place, located at 600 Ridley Circle off Ivy Avenue in the Southeast Community. The overall CNI target area is from 39th Street to the Seafood Industrial Park and from Marshall Avenue to Interstate 664.

CNI has three (3) core goals: housing, people and neighborhood. The grant is for planning activities only to develop a Transformation Plan for the target area and surrounding community. Through the CNI Planning Grant, the City and NNRHA hope to create improved conditions necessary for public and private investment in the target neighborhoods, which may in turn increase safety, and provide amenities to support families.

As part of the planning process to develop a Transformation Plan for the target area, the EDA engaged Atria Planning, LLC, to conduct a market analysis and feasibility study. The analysis will use demographic, employment and market data to provide an understanding of the local economic, housing and land uses and the opportunities and challenges to revitalization and redevelopment in the target area. The market analysis will aid the City, EDA and NNRHA in understanding the dynamics of the housing and non-residential markets. It will also assist in identifying the potential impacts on efforts to develop a Transformation Plan for the target area and help direct future public and private investment.