Developer sheds light on proposed Friendship Park project – The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — A proposal to build affordable senior housing in Friendship Park has a lot of people talking, but not everything they say is true.

That’s according to a representative of the development firm associated with the project, who visited Winchester on Thursday in an attempt to set the record straight.

Heather Arnold of Vienna-based Chapman Development said her company’s goal is to not only bring much-needed affordable senior housing to Winchester’s North End, but also to give the community some top-tier recreational amenities the city otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people who are very excited about it,” Arnold said about the Friendship Park proposal.

To make the project work, Winchester would have to transfer ownership of Friendship Park’s 10.6 acres to Chapman Development. In exchange, Chapman would build and manage an apartment complex for seniors who earn 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, which the U.S. Census Bureau states is currently $28,202 per person or $58,818 per household. Additionally, Chapman would construct a community recreation center and outdoor pool on the Friendship Park property, plus a fully accessible playground and soccer field on public land next to the park — all at no cost to the city.

“What we are doing is important,” Arnold said before citing a philosophy shared with her by the indigenous people of Vancouver, British Columbia: “You don’t look at a land’s use, but you investigate its usefulness.”

City Manager Dan Hoffman said Winchester would collect an estimated $250,000 in annual property taxes from the housing units. That money would be used to fund operations and programming at the community center and outdoor pool.

Arnold said Chapman plans on financing the project using tax credits administered by the Virginia Housing Authority. In order to apply for those credits in 2022, she said the park property would have to be transferred to Chapman by January. Afterward, company officials should know by late summer or early fall if the financing has been approved so work can begin.

The proposed Friendship Park concept was born several months ago when Timothy M. Chapman, managing member of Chapman Development, visited Winchester while looking for a new place to eat dinner with his wife. He saw potential in the city, so his office contacted Hoffman to see if a public-private partnership was possible.

Hoffman said he immediately thought of Ward 2, which has few recreational amenities and is home to thousands of people with low to moderate incomes. He also noted an urgent need for affordable senior housing in that area based on a soon-to-be-released housing study that projects Winchester will need more than 500 additional affordable housing units for seniors on fixed incomes within the next decade.

Hoffman suggested that Chapman develop Friendship Park, which he characterizes as sparse and underused.

“It was really just an off-handed comment,” Hoffman said, recalling when he first showed the park to Chapman representatives. “’There’s that field over there that’s in a perfect location.’”

He knew from the start that many people wouldn’t like the idea of replacing a neighborhood park with a housing development, so he worked with Chapman to come up with as many recreational amenities as possible to make up for the loss of park land.

“Open space is an objective, but it’s not the only one,” Arnold said. “In the Second Ward, I think we have to be open to the idea that other objectives are worthy of consideration.”

Hoffman has been criticized by some residents ever since he went public with the development concept in early August. They have accused him of being more interested in making money and catering to developers than preserving open land, while others have said he is lying to the public and plans to build high-priced luxury apartments rather than affordable senior housing.

Those rumors are false, Arnold and Hoffman said.

Arnold said the Virginia Housing Authority financing that Chapman intends to pursue for the project provides tax credits for constructing affordable housing and community amenities. If the financing is approved, Chapman will be required by law to build everything it has promised — affordable senior housing, a community center, an outdoor pool, a playground and a soccer field. If the financing is not approved — Arnold and Hoffman said the chances of that happening are extremely slim — nothing will happen and Friendship Park will remain undisturbed.

A common suggestion from opponents of the Friendship Park proposal is to have the city take over a vacant or poorly maintained property to build senior housing rather than eradicating a publicly owned park. That’s just not feasible, Hoffman said.

“You can’t bulldoze a shopping center to do it. It’s private property,” he said. “People seem to think that’s within my power but it’s not. It’s frustrating.”

No matter what happens with Friendship Park, Hoffman said he is not ignoring Winchester’s need for recreational space.

“We’re also looking to acquire additional land to put two neighborhood parks in Ward 2,” he said. “One over by the [Northside Lanes] bowling alley on North Loudoun Street, and one off of Berryville Avenue.”

In order for the Friendship Park project to come to fruition, the city’s Comprehensive Plan has to be updated to show the 10.6 acres have been re-designated as developable land. If that happens, developers will then pursue financing, seek a rezoning of the parcel and file a site plan. Hoffman has estimated it could take up to a year to get all the permissions required to start construction, assuming that City Council agrees to pursue the project.

On Thursday, the Winchester Planning and Economic Development Committee unanimously recommended the Friendship Park proposal be integrated into an updated version of the Comprehensive Plan. Council is expected to further discuss the matter at its next business meeting on Oct. 12.

— Contact Brian Brehm at bbrehm@winchesterstar.com