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Next phase of Cleveland Avenue Homes redevelopment gets boost

A rendering of Phase one, which includes 81 apartments that will be constructed at the former Brown Elementary School on Highland Avenue. The file image courtesy of HAWS.

The next phase in a major project to increase affordable housing in Winston-Salem will continue as planned. City Council approved additional funding this week for the Cleveland Avenue Homes redevelopment.

The project is part of the East/Northeast Winston-Salem Transformation Plan. That got a jumpstart after the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem won a $30-million federal grant to revitalize infrastructure in the Cleveland Avenue neighborhood and make other improvements in the surrounding community.

But inflation and the rising costs of materials and construction has forced the city to make a bigger financial commitment. Council recently approved $9 million to help fund the next phase of the project. 

Samuel Hunter, the Choice Neighborhood Initiative project manager with the city, says it's an important project that will help improve the quality of life for residents in the community and boost economic development.

“Getting the housing in place will be the first domino that falls. Having some more appealing homes over there for people to come in, they want to live there and spend money in their community, so overall it's the first domino in revitalization," says Hunter.

The project will consist of five phases and will result in more than 300 new mixed-income, affordable housing units.

The first phase is mostly grant funded and includes 81 apartments. Construction is expected to begin in the next few months.

Phase two is expected to begin late next year. Several residents at Cleveland Avenue Homes will be relocated before that happens and Hunter says those discussions are underway. 

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.

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