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Virginia Community Development Corporation
Whittaker Place Apartments – Newport News, Virginia

The Whittaker Memorial Hospital building for the first time in over 20 years is again serving the Brookville Heights community in Newport News, Virginia. This adaptive reuse and historic rehabilitation provides 67 homes for families living below 50-60% of the median income of the city. Each apartment features keyless entry, an in-unit washer and dryer and granite countertops. Amenities also include a community room, picnic and grilling area and a dog park. Given the building’s history each unit is unique, and historic features were preserved including the large corridors, high ceilings, and ceramic wall tiles in the original labor and delivery rooms.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is one of the few historic hospitals in the United States built and designed by African American architects and physicians. Initially constructed in 1943 the hospital was a beacon of pride for the community in an era of Jim Crow and segregation. After the hospital relocated to a larger facility in 1985, the building fell into disrepair. Following decades of blight, the development of the Whittaker Place Apartments restores the building as a community asset to once again serve the needs of the neighborhood and residents. VCDC is proud to be part of the diverse team working together to preserve the building and history of the Whittaker Memorial Hospital as it pursues its new purpose of providing quality, affordable homes.

VCDC’s Housing Equity Fund of Virginia XXII invested over $6 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Federal Historic Tax Credits to provide funding for this project. An additional $2.3 million was provided by State Historic Rehabilitation Credit investment. Whittaker Place is VCDC’s 14th LIHTC partnership in Newport News and its 33rd in the greater Hampton Roads area.