A look at the financing and community partnerships behind a Norfolk housing development that opened in June 2023.
When Market Heights celebrated its grand opening on June 14, 2023, Norfolk’s St. Paul’s district gained 164 affordable apartments. The development paired new homes with attention to accessibility and support for daily living, bringing together the work of a developer, financial partners and community organizations.
TowneBank was part of that process, participating as a tax-credit investor and equity bridge lender alongside developer Lawson. Its involvement connects the financial side of development with a recognizable addition to Norfolk’s neighborhoods.
Capital with a visible result
TowneBank’s account of its work with Lawson identifies those two financing roles in Market Heights. It places the project within a broader banking relationship that included borrowing and other business services.
Before an apartment building welcomes its first resident, plans, construction and financing must come together. Investment and lending are part of that practical work. At Market Heights, TowneBank participated in the financial side of an undertaking with a straightforward community purpose: creating affordable homes in Norfolk.
Virginia Housing explains that the federal housing tax-credit program encourages private investment in building and rehabilitating affordable rental housing. Virginia Housing administers the program in the Commonwealth. It is one way affordable housing goals and private investment can come together around a practical result.
TowneBank’s participation puts a local face on that connection. Banking can feel distant from the daily life of a neighborhood; here, the link is tangible. The financing supported a development designed around the familiar need for a place to live.
A development planned around daily life
In its grand-opening announcement, Lawson described one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and a design that included 17 accessible apartments and Universal Design features in 80 units. The developer also identified Hope House and Volunteers of America Chesapeake and Carolinas as partners in providing on-site support for residents with developmental disabilities and mobility impairments.
For someone choosing a home, details such as accessibility and nearby support can shape everyday routines. Entering a building, moving through an apartment and finding assistance are practical considerations. Including those needs in a development’s design recognizes that residents bring different abilities and circumstances to the same community.
Planning also considered the surrounding neighborhood. TowneBank’s pre-opening account described elevating the site out of the floodplain and creating a public sidewalk serving students walking to a nearby school. These are useful reminders that a housing project’s design reaches beyond its apartment doors.
Investing in the same community
Affordable housing takes people with different kinds of expertise working toward a shared result. A developer brings the project together, financial partners participate in its funding, and service organizations contribute knowledge of the people the community is intended to serve.
Market Heights shows what that collaboration can produce. TowneBank’s investment and lending helped support a development that added homes while making room for accessibility and community support. It is a positive example for Coastal Virginia: local business participation connected to a lasting, visible part of a neighborhood.
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