Second Act abandons project for downtown
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on August 30, 2017 5:50 AM
Plans to develop a four-story residential and commercial property in downtown Goldsboro are now off the table.
Second Act Communities, a nonprofit based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, will no longer pursue the project following the results of a feasibility study.
The organization planned to construct a mixed-use residential and commercial property, on Center Street, which would have offered 100 to 140 market-rate apartments.
"Our consultant determined that we would not be able to build 100-plus multi-family apartments and get it rented in downtown Goldsboro," said Addie Wright Thomason, Second Act Communities chief executive officer. "We looked at doing a smaller building, but it was not feasible due to financing restraints. The smaller building would not yield the success we need.
"For us, it is because we can't make the numbers work."
The project was proposed to include a partnership with the Goldsboro Family YMCA, which considered opening a satellite location on the first floor of the building on Center Street.
Second Act Communities, which started pursuing the project in early 2016, also planned to purchase the Center Street property from the city. The purchase was never finalized.
"I would have loved to do that project in downtown," Thomason said. "We definitely wanted that project to happen."
Second Act Communities, which started considering the downtown property in early 2016, was interested in launching its first market-rate development in the city.
Historically, Second Act has developed affordable housing in partnership with the Virginia Beach Community Development Corp., which operates a Section 8 housing complex.
As a nonprofit, revenues generated from the market-rate project would have gone back into the property and funded operational and other building-related expenses.
"Our project was the first where they were challenged to create a mixed-use, high density market-rate residential project based on our interest to see that developed downtown," said Julie Metz, Goldsboro downtown development director. "While they could not make their financial models work for this project, here and now, this does not mean that the future for increased residential density in downtown is bleak.
"We are hopeful that another project or projects will fill this need in the near-term future, and we will continue to work to that goal."
Consideration is being given to other potential housing development opportunities in Goldsboro.
"We've invested a great deal of time and money and we're trying to identify other privately owned properties in the Goldsboro area on which we can develop multi-family housing," Thomason said. "I would love to get it in the city limits, but it would not be in downtown Goldsboro."