DATE: Thursday, November 20, 1997           TAG: 9711200494

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   38 lines

CHESAPEAKE APPROVES BONDS FOR SUBSIDIZED HOUSING FOR ELDERLY

The Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority approved $12.9 million in bonds Wednesday for elderly housing, most of which will be for low- to moderate-income residents.

The two projects, one of which was already built, had been through the authority before.

But the developers didn't obtain bond allocation in time from the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, which had already doled out its available bonds for the year. Therefore, the agency had to approve the projects again.

The project that has yet to be built, Tidewater House, is a 101-apartment complex for 3.04 acres in Wimbledon Square, next to Chesapeake General Hospital.

At least 20 percent of the apartments will be Section 8 housing, in which the housing authority provides subsidies to low-income residents renting private housing. It will be run by the nonprofit corporation Tidewater Westminster Homes, Inc.

The authority initially agreed to issue $5.4 million in bonds for Tidewater House. But Tidewater Westminster Homes found that it could finance $1 million through other tax credits.

The remaining bonds were for 228 units of the Chesapeake Crossing Seniors Community, all of which have been renting since August. Those apartments - which make up Chesapeake Crossing III - are only 48 percent occupied, but Interim Executive Director Teresa Brewer expects that to change soon.

``It's starting to be leased up now,'' Brewer said. ``We're just letting people know there's a new community out there.''

The apartments are across from the Chesapeake Crossing shopping center off Military Highway. Chesapeake Crossing I and II, which are almost full, have 294 units.

The board voted 8-0 for each project. Commissioner Charles F. Sanford was absent.

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