City, state and Standard Communities officials attended this week’s event. (Mike Platania photos)
A major California developer has kicked off construction of an income-based housing complex that’s serving as its entrance into the local market.
Standard Communities broke ground in recent days on a 234-unit development at 250 E. German School Road.
The new project, Joyfield Towns at German School, will rise in phases on a 15-acre site in South Richmond near the Chippenham Parkway-Midlothian Turnpike interchange. It will be configured as 35 rows of three-story, for-rent townhomes.
Each unit would have three or four bedrooms, and Feras Qumseya, Standard’s chief development officer, said the units will be available for households earning between 50% and 60% of the area median income.
“Who are these homes for? They’re for the teachers, the firefighters, the line cooks, home and health aides,” Qumseya said. “They work really hard, and too often they can’t find a quality home they can afford, especially a quality home that will offer the amenities and quality of life that a townhome with a backyard will offer.”
Qumseya said three-bedroom townhomes at Joyfield are planned to rent monthly for about $1,650, and four-bedroom units will rent for around $1,840.
A rendering of some of the Joyfield townhomes. (Courtesy Standard Communities)
Standard Communities, which is based in Los Angeles, touts itself as one of the largest developers of income-based housing in the country with over $6 billion in assets under management and 28,000 units nationwide.
The company filed plans for the by-right development in 2024 and purchased the land for $1.5 million over the summer.
A few months ago the lot was a wooded area that’s since been cleared.
The $90 million project’s capital stack has a plethora of sources, including financing from Virginia Housing, U.S. Bancorp, Citi and Stifel, as well as $45 million in bond financing from RRHA. Morgan-Keller Construction is the general contractor and BSB Design is the architect.
Also in attendance at Tuesday’s groundbreaking were Councilwoman Nicole Jones, Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II and Steven Nesmith, CEO of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Qumseya said that Joyfield is planned to be completed in about 18 months and that Standard Communities is already looking for more development opportunities in the Richmond area.
As Joyfield gets underway, another income-based project elsewhere in South Richmond recently reached the finish line. Earlier this month Genesis Properties cut the ribbon on Pinnacle at Afton, a 150-unit apartment complex off Richmond Highway.
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