NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Revitalizing the Southeast Community comes at a pretty staggering price, but Newport News is committed to bringing back the big bustle and thriving neighborhoods that once defined the east end of the city.
A recent grant from Gov. Ralph Northam's office will add to money the city already received to move ahead with its plan for the Southeast Community.
"We received a 30-million-dollar Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant, but the city is spending about 170 million dollars," said Newport News Development Director Florence Kingston.
The $250,000 grant from Northam's office will get the ball rolling on renovating a building built about 100 years ago.
"We have done a solicitation for the design of the improvement of the building. So, the timing is perfect for the industrial revitalization fund grant," Kingston said.
The building soon will offer retail and office space, creating 11 full-time positions as part of the Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
During the summer, the city broke ground on the Marshall-Ridley Public Housing Replacement project, another part of the initiative.
Kingston said Newport News also received an $86,000 grant to support small business growth and a $50,000 grant to develop a strategic action plan for businesses in the Southeast Community. The Women's Empowerment Development plans to work with city officials to offer hands-on technical and financial assistance to small businesses in the community.
"We can do a lot of physical development and building but coming back to really activating the fabric of bringing services convenient to the neighborhood is integral to really sustain success," Kingston said. "You'll see a lot of activity and concentrated development that we're going to bring people back to that corridor."
Kingston said she hopes to see work on the building begin in 2022.