Firefly Commons
VCDC is pleased to welcome Firefly Commons to our portfolio.
Oct. 2021 - Firefly Commons is a mixed-generation community in the City of Elkins, West Virginia. The community contains 16 new homes between seven buildings: six duplexes are for seniors, and one building is a townhouse-style unit housing for families. Firefly Commons has been in the works since 2014, when community members recognized the importance of affordable homes in an area with a rapidly growing senior population in one of the oldest regions of West Virginia.
Developers at Woodlands Development Group facilitated community group sessions and roundtables that included the local senior center to learn more about the needs and input of senior populations in Elkins. They found that seniors were looking for homes in a multigenerational community, surrounded by families and other senior citizens to age in place. They also preferred duplex-style and townhome units. Woodlands prioritized this community input as they began conceptualizing and developing Firefly Commons. The name itself was born from brainstorming in the office — once “Firefly,” was suggested, everyone immediately liked it.
Firefly Commons is on the west side of Elkins, next to the business district and other local services. The community was built specifically in this area to ensure that seniors and working families would have easy access to hospital and medical care, as well as other important local resources. Firefly is adjacent to the Tygart Mall and a grocery store, hardware store, restaurants, and cinema. Downtown Elkins is only a five-minute drive away, which offers a multitude of retail and a medical center.
VCDC has partnered with Woodlands Development Group to assist with financing and developing Firefly Commons. VCDC invested $3,055,084 toward the community through our West Virginia Impact Fund II. Additionally, VCDC’s lending affiliate VCDF contributed a $500,000 loan to assist with construction of Firefly Commons. Firefly Commons is the second Low Income Housing Tax Credit project completed in West Virginia by a nonprofit community development organization, second to Golden Rule, a historic community we worked with that was completed in 2020.
Woodlands is a nonprofit housing organization based in West Virginia and a sister organization of the financial institution Woodlands Development & Lending. They are a mission-driven organization that aims to provide capital and resources to underserved communities in West Virginia. VCDC first partnered with Woodlands in 2018, assisting with other West Virginia developments such as the Tygart Hotel and Golden Rule Apartments. VCDC will also be a partner in Woodlands' next venture in the Town of Rupert in Greenbrier County alongside local organization Meadow River Valley Association (MRVA). The team will re-purpose the former Rupert High School into 14 apartment units with a community health clinic on the first floor.