COMMENTARY: City’s Affordable Housing 'Song & Dance' Just A 'Bait & Switch'?

Rents for recent developments — Governors on North Henry, Current Midtown, High Street View and others — unaffordable for Williamsburg's 'typical' family

Apartments like Governors on North Henry, Midtown Commons, High Street View and others are far from affordable for typical families in the City. (Images: George Arbogust, Williamsburg Independent)

At a recent City Council meeting, Williamsburg Mayor Doug Pons reminisced about growing up in the City, and touted the possibility of more families living downtown again. His statements followed a presentation from City staff recommending significantly more mixed-use, high-density developments on 5 downtown city streets. But a review of rents at recent City-approved redevelopment projects reveals that affordability hasn’t been a high priority.

The CEO and President of Colonial Williamsburg, Cliff Fleet, recently echoed the Mayor’s sentiments about the need to build affordable housing. While speaking to a neighborhood group, Fleet lamented the struggles his workforce has finding affordable housing locally. The implication was that the City needs to relax zoning and allow more high-density development, so the Foundation can deal with the lack of affordable housing by developing the land it owns.

But the results of recent projects tell a different story. When given the opportunity to build…