Mar 15 2007
Downtown Living in Waynesboro
per the News Virginian (Move in and up), new apartments are opening this week in dfowntown Waynesboro above the history museum. Waynesboro politicians have been trying for some time to revitalize the downtown district, and Lord knows it needs it (ever tried to go our for coffee or anything on a weeknight after 8?) A couple years ago, the city council passed a new ordinance allowing for residential apartments on floors 2 and up in the downtown commercial district. The idea is to lure people downtown that was, establishing a base for businesses. When the businesses can afford to open and stay open, more people will come down and the effect snowballs and amplifies. Sounds great to me!
The museum project was overseen by the Redevelopment & Housing Authority, to get some apartments going. So far, no new apartments have been made, but perhaps this will be the first of many.
This is outlined in the article well as follows:
Converting the often lesser-used second floors of downtown buildings is seen as another way of getting more feet on the street, an element critical to the district’s revitalization and encouraged by the city, which several years ago made second-floor housing a by-right property use for the otherwise commercial area.
New housing means new tenants whose presence downtown, it’s anticipated, will contribute to a livelier atmosphere and provide a built-in audience for neighborhood shops and restaurants.
Few building owners so far have latched onto the idea, but developers hope the museum project - a first for downtown - will inspire more to pursue it.