Nystrom Village redevelopment dreams reignited in Richmond

RICHMOND — Dreams of redeveloping Richmond’s Nystrom Village, a historic World War II housing site, are being resuscitated with the selection of a new development team that has promised to bring more than just affordable housing to the area.

During a meeting Tuesday, Richmond councilmembers, acting as the city’s Housing Authority, selected Gorman & Company and Novin Development as its new development partners on the project.

While Novin Development describes itself as an “emerging developer” based in Contra Costa County, Gorman & Company has 40 years of experience developing housing projects across the nation, said Kevin Kellogg, Gorman & Company’s Pacific Northwest market president.

“Our team brings just a really robust ability to balance community engagement and our focus is really on going through the process to redevelop the community. Our sign of success for us is how the residents thrive and how we help the city and the agencies achieve your goals,” Kellogg said Tuesday night.

Nystrom Village’s 51 single-story duplexes were built during World War II to house defense workers and their families. It continues to operate as low-income housing.

Gorman & Company and Novin Development, with support from Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services and Opticos Designs, have proposed redeveloping the 9-acre site into a well-connected and walkable neighborhood with 403 mixed-income homes built in phases.

Phase 1 would see 109 affordable units built on Block A, bound by Virginia Avenue, 13th Street, Maine Avenue and Marina Way. Tenants currently living on the block would be temporarily relocated and all Nystrom Village tenants would be offered housing in Block A once completed.

Of the other blocks, the team proposes building 106 affordable large family units, 146 affordable senior and workforce housing units and 42 for-sale market-rate townhomes.

In addition to housing, the development team said they envision revitalizing plans to rebuild the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and see opportunities for other amenities like a community clinic, child care and nonprofit space.

Their proposal also calls for integrating the city’s Wellness Trail into its plans and better connecting the neighborhood to the Richmond Ferry Station. Additional features would be developed through a robust multi-day community engagement process, the team said.

“We want to make sure the design reflects the community needs,” said Nikki Beasley, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services executive director. “Oftentimes with development, getting community voice tends to be the last thing done, but our goal as an organization is to ensure that is the first point of interest in contact.”

Councilmember Doria Robinson said the project is “near and dear” to her heart because she spent a lot of time in the neighborhood where her great-grandfather lived.

Rebuilding the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center has also been a top priority for Robinson. The center was demolished years ago after flooding, vandalism and theft caused the center to close in 2014 and it subsequently fell into disrepair.

“This is one of those moments where we have a great opportunity to do something great,” Robinson said. “It’s a very hard project. It’s not going to be easy to fund. It’s not going to be easy to have the stamina. It’s lots of phases to move through, and I do feel that we need people who will be mission driven, vision driven to see this through, especially the way it needs to be done, the way I think it needs to be done for this community.”

Another development team, Eden Housing and Community Housing Development Corporation, was recommended by staff after their application received the top score in a review by three city staff and two members of the Nystrom United Revitalization Effort.

Councilmembers ultimately went with Gorman & Company and Novin Development after Robinson shared concerns Eden Housing and Community Housing Development Corporation would not listen to community needs.

The concerns were raised after a member of the team shot down an idea to incorporate a grocery store into their plans due to financial limitations, an assertion that was walked back by the development team later on.

Alternatively, Gorman & Company and Novin Development said commercial retail would be possible and assured the council they’d pursue all funding opportunities to bring the community’s wants and needs to fruition.

Councilmember Soheila Bana asked staff to get those promises in writing.

“It’s awesome to have two very strong choices, but then at the end of the day, it’s Nystrom Village, and I hope it’s a village, a bit more than just housing,” Bana said. “It would be nice to hold them accountable for the MLK community center, the health clinic, everything else, so we can have a Nystrom Village.”