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A groundbreaking for Thompson’s Knoll Green Housing Production Program in Lexington is set for March 5. The new neighborhood is getting $700,000 in Community Block Grant funds to start construction and sales. Business trainer and consultant Michael Lonergan has been hired as a housing counselor who will assist home buyers interested in the new properties.

Here is the press release from Mariner Media.
Lexington’s Thompson’s Knoll Green Housing Production Program is set to break ground for construction of the City’s new urban neighborhood on the afternoon of Monday, March 5, 2012.  Thompson’s Knoll is located on North Lewis Street, adjacent to Lylburn Downing Middle School. Lexington City Manager Jon Ellestad signed the final set of Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development planning and design documents, effectively releasing $700,000 in Community Block Grant funds needed to begin program construction and sales.

The Thompson’s Knoll neighborhood is a public-private venture to develop a mixed-income, green housing neighborhood of twenty-four new single-family homes. The goal is for the neighborhood to be a green and friendly community with homes designed for maximum environmental, ecological, and operational efficiency. The partners in the community development program are Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity, the City’s Threshold program, and private developer, Thompson’s Knoll Developers, Inc.  In addition to providing affordable in-town housing for families earning below the area’s average household income, construction is expected to provide an economic boost for local workers and businesses. The homes’ designs will meet rigid Earth Craft standards.

In another key move this past week, the city hired long time area resident Michael Lonergan as a Housing Counselor to assist interested home buyers with the program’s alternative purchase options. Lonergan has been active as a business trainer and consultant in organizational development, in the finance and mortgage industries, and was a driving force in the establishment of the Habitat Re-Store in Buena Vista. His role will be the “starting point” for most families looking at potential home ownership in the new neighborhood. Lonergan, an experienced “people person,” says he is “excited” about his new position in the community, and especially for the opportunity to work with Thompson’s Knoll, which he notes is “a great effort by the City.”