NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Demolition of the Tidewater Gardens public housing complex is expected to continue in the coming weeks, with a total of 16 buildings coming down by fall.
Representatives from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority confirmed the news on Tuesday saying that well over 50% of the complex is already vacant, with former residents relocated.
Work has been underway since January 2018 when Norfolk City Council voted to have the NRHA move ahead with plans to eventually level the Tidewater Gardens, Young Terrace and Calvert Square public housing complexes and replace them with mixed-income communities. The goal is to increase the quality of life for the 1,700 families that currently call the aging complexes home and leave behind the neighborhoods’ poverty-stricken past.
In December, the first unit fell at the corner of Fenchurch and Wood streets to make way for a new pump station that will support new homes in the St. Paul’s area.
All 618 units at Tidewater Gardens will be torn down and rebuilt as part of the first phase, which is supported by a $30-million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
After several years of warning, mandatory move-out notices were mailed to residents of about 50 units in Tidewater Gardens in late October.
For more information, visit stpaulsdistrict.org.
CORRECTION: An original version of this article incorrectly inferred the demolition was delayed. In actuality, it was only the demolition contractor who was not able to meet the original start date NRHA gave to WAVY–TV.
