Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

First phase of new housing development set to get underway in Winston-Salem

A rendering of the new apartment buildings that will be built at the former Brown Elementary School. The city's development partner is McCormack Baron Salazar. The architect is Steele Group Architects. The image was provided by HAWS.

A major housing redevelopment project planned for east Winston-Salem is moving forward. City council recently approved a site plan that will kickstart construction on the first phase.

For years, city leaders have looked at ways to revitalize an area known as the Cleveland Avenue corridor. It's a large stretch of communities near the downtown area. Last year, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem (HAWS) won a $30 million federal grant to help make that happen.

The goal is to reconnect the areas east and west of U.S. 52 and reestablish some cohesion that was lost with urban renewal programs and with the construction of the highway, while extending investments beyond Innovation Quarter.

The plan calls for more than 400 units of new housing.

Phase one includes 81 apartments that will be constructed at the former Brown Elementary School on Highland Avenue.

Kevin Cheshire, the executive director of HAWS, says it will be a mixed-income community, with affordable options for many different households.

“What we want to be mindful of is making sure that we aren't doing what we've done in the past, which is just stacking a lot of affordable housing in one area of the city," says Cheshire. "We want to make sure that when we are developing affordable housing we are doing it as part of a larger mixed-income community, where it's true community.”

Construction on the apartment buildings at the former Brown Elementary will begin next year. It's expected to be finished in late 2023.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate