Virginia Union University is getting a $40 million infusion from a New York investment firm to help develop the university’s Northside real estate. The investment will create a new revenue stream for VUU, plus potentially bring home ownership opportunities for graduates, university president Hakim Lucas said in a statement.
VUU plans to use the funds from Steinbridge Group to build 130-200 market-rate housing units on around 100 acres it owns at Brook and Overbrook roads.
- The university and the investment firm will co-own the properties and share in any profits, a VUU spokesperson tells Axios.
- It’s unclear how much of the housing will be apartments vs. single-family homes, or if some of the development could become commercial space. A detailed plan is in the works, and construction should begin this year.
AXIOS
This is Steinbridge Group’s first outlay as part of the firm’s $100 million commitment to helping HBCUs develop underused real estate holdings. The partnership is VUU’s first step in implementing the $500 million, 10-year master plan the school unveiled last month.
- A key part of that plan is creating an identity for the campus-adjacent Chamberlayne corridor that is inclusive of the HBCU that anchors the neighborhood and the Black middle class families that have long called it home, BizSense reported.
VUU was founded in 1865 to give educational opportunities to formerly enslaved Virginians. Last fall it enrolled more than 2,000 students, the highest enrollment in the school’s history.
Read the full article at Axios.