A 100-unit senior citizens apartment building called Franklin

A 100-unit senior citizens apartment building called Franklin Arms is under construction in Norfolk, Virginia, as the first part of the HOPE VI redevelopment of the Bowling Green and Roberts Village public housing complex. The aim is to create an urban village called Broad Creek on 87 acres that were occupied until recently by public housing. Surrounding neighborhoods on the city’s east side are also expected to benefit from the redevelopment, being carried out by the Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority in partnership with the City, HUD, the Virginia Housing Development Authority, The Community Builders, and Virginia developer Ripley Heatwole Co. By October 2007 a site that once housed 767 poor families will be home to a more economically diverse group of about 600 households occupying apartments, townhouses, and detached houses drawn from five styles — Craftsman, Tudor, Cape Cod, traditional/Colonial, and Classical. The area is designated for future light rail service, a regional library, and a YMCA. Architecture and planning firms involved in the project are Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, Rodriguez Ripley Maddux Motley of Norfolk, and the TAF Group of Virginia Beach.