Council approves rezoning cases, paving the way for major Smithfield investments

Earlier this year, the Council approved an application for the City to be considered for a highly-competitive federal grant that could be transformational for the Smithfield, College Hills, and Graymont neighborhoods.

The Choice Neighborhood Grant Program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awards cities with up to $50 million to revitalize and reimagine neighborhoods by leveraging public and private dollars to build affordable housing, mixed-use developments, greenspaces and more.

On Tuesday, the Council voted unanimously to approve rezoning cases related to the eight properties that would see significant investments and transformations in Smithfield, College Hills and Graymont. If awarded, the City plans to invest up to $30 million over the eight-year grant term to build up to 1,100 housing units across the community.

“This is an investment in three of our historically significant neighborhoods,” Council President Wardine Alexander said. “I’m excited to hear this is bringing in more affordable homes and an upgraded library that will serve as a central gathering place for the community with improved programing and offerings for the residents. I was encouraged to hear that the phases of this project would not cause the library to go offline, instead it will transition to the new location across the street without and interruption of services.”

Here are a few of the renderings of the Choice Neighborhood Grant Application: