Founded in 1996, Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) is a nonprofit Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) formed through the merger of the Thomas Jefferson Housing Improvement Commission (TJHIC) and the Charlottesville Housing Foundation (CHF). Since becoming a certified Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) in 1997 and a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 2001, PHA has played a vital role in shaping equitable housing solutions throughout Central Virginia.
Today, PHA owns and manages 600 apartment units in 11 communities across the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle and Nelson Counties. Beyond community management, the organization also offers resident services and support programs, financial services, and housing counseling. PHA is committed to improving financial stability for individuals and families through innovative and affordable housing solutions throughout the communities it serves.
Timmons Group’s Charlottesville office has partnered with PHA for over six years on a wide range of projects in the region, including Kindlewood Master Plan and redevelopment, Monticello Area Community Action Agency (MACAA) redevelopment, Park Street Christian Church redevelopment, Southwood’s Hickory Hope apartment community, Premier Cirlce redevelopment, and the UVA Piedmont Site redevelopment project. Each project typically involves an entitlement process, and many are developed in multiple phases, featuring a range of services tailored to meet the site’s specific needs.
One of PHA’s most notable redevelopment projects is Kindlewood, formerly known as Friendship Court. Located in Downtown Charlottesville, Kindlewood is an affordable housing community undergoing a four-phase redevelopment that will add 450 new apartment units while replacing 150 existing ones. The project is designed to address the area’s growing need for affordable housing while mitigating the number of community members displaced during construction.
In addition to new residential units, Kindlewood will feature community-focused amenities, such as a community resource center, early childhood learning center, and creative recreational facilities designed to serve residents of all ages.
Timmons Group is providing site and civil engineering, transportation, stormwater design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental assessments, and geotechnical engineering services for this project.
“From early planning through design and construction, our team has worked hand in hand with PHA and the community residents to bring Kindlewood to life,” Project Manager Clint Shifflett said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to help create a place that reflects the community’s vision alongside the very people who live there.”
In 2024, Kindlewood Phase I was recognized by ULI Virginia with a Jeffie Award for being one of the most influential affordable housing projects in Charlottesville.
Another project that Timmons Group and PHA collaborated on is Hickory Hope, an affordable housing apartment community that is part of the larger Southwood redevelopment on the outskirts of Charlottesville.
When infrastructure challenges threatened Southwood Mobile Home Park in 2007, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville stepped in to prevent mass displacement and reimagine the site’s potential. Since then, Habitat has invested over $25 million to stabilize operations, with the intent of transferring ownership of the redeveloped neighborhood to the residents and establishing a model for community-led redevelopment.
Timmons Group joined the Southwood redevelopment team in 2017, working alongside residents to co-create an inclusive, mixed-income neighborhood. Our team participated in nearly eighty community meetings, guiding resident designers through a rezoning effort and covering design topics such as street sections, density, unit type, and amenity spaces. The completed project will feature a variety of amenities, including parks, community centers, and commercial resources for its residents.
Shortly after joining, PHA acquired two parcels of land within Southwood to develop Hickory Hope, a 121-unit affordable housing apartment community featuring free high-speed internet services, full kitchen and laundry appliances, off-street parking, fitness and community rooms, and green space that provides connections to trails and newly opened Biscuit Run Park.
This project has already made a measurable impact on the community. According to Piedmont Housing Alliance, 85% of families have chosen to stay at Southwood, which is “an extraordinary achievement compared to the national average of 13% in similar redevelopment projects.” As construction nears completion, PHA’s Hickory Hope is a significant contribution to Habitat for Humanity’s ongoing efforts to increase affordable housing options in the region. Timmons Group provided civil engineering, landscape architecture, environmental, survey, and construction administration services for this project.
We’re proud to continue supporting PHA and their partners as they reimagine housing opportunities in Central Virginia. From technical expertise to community outreach, our shared work reflects a long-standing commitment to creating vibrant, inclusive spaces that meet the region’s evolving needs.
